Third Frontier Project boosts Ohio biotech.

• Position: Ohio

Ohio ranked first in the nation in the growth of total venture capital funding for biotech firms from 2001 to 2003, according to an industry study released by the California-based research group Milken Institute.

The state also ranked first in the growth of biotech firms receiving venture capital investment, the study showed.

Ohio's $1.1 billion Third Frontier Project, which uses public funding of biotechnology to help attract private...