SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Could pharmaceutical research and biotechnology be the new economic force in Central New York? Supporters will tell you yes and they have a new study to back their claim.

According to a report by Archstone Consulting, the industry had a $1.2-billion impact in 2006. There are 21 biopharmaceutical companies and several medical schools and research labs in the region and in July, SUNY ESF and SUNY Upstate will be breaking ground on a new biotech facility. Proponents say they have all the capabilities to expand, but they will need more investment and support to do so.

"We have the capability here, in Syracuse, to do exactly what Albany did in the area of nanotech, being very much a targeted market place," said Dr. David Smith, SUNY Upstate Medical University President.

"Public and private partnerships that bring together dollars from both sides of the aisle to grow the industry locally and create those jobs and help keep those technologies locally as they're headed for the marketplace," said Nathan Tinker, NY Biotechnology Associate Executive Director.

The Archstone study was paid for in part by the New York Biotechnology Association and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association of America.