A new study shows that TGen, the downtown Phoenix-based bioscience research group, last year produced about $8 for every $1 invested by the state – more than twice its economic benefits of two years earlier.

The study by the Tripp Umbach company in Pittsburgh estimates that the 2008 economic benefit reached $77.4 million, compared with $21.7 million in 2006.

TGen’s economic benefits have grown because it has almost 300 employees, its research has helped create or incubate seven companies to commercialize technology, it contracts with outside businesses such as software developers and the bulk of its $65 million annual budget comes from federal and corporate grants.

The Translational Genomics Research Institute, as it is officially known, commissioned the 2006 and 2008 studies to show that the state and public investments that created TGen in 2002 have more than paid for themselves and continue to produce results, said Jeffrey Trent, TGen president and research director.

Arizona pays about $5.5 million a year into TGen, using tobacco funds earmarked for health research.

Phoenix contributed the building, and the group receives substantial donations, such as $685,000 awarded by Safeway earlier this year for breast-cancer research.

“We are focusing on leveraging state dollars vs. replacing state dollars,” Trent said.

“Bioscience was never intended to be the sole component that would change the economy in Arizona. But I think it is an important knowledge-based pillar that the state has invested in, and I think if it continues to invest, it is likely to have an economic impact.”

The Tripp Umbach report released Tuesday said that TGen operations in 2008 produced $8.09 for every $1 invested by the state, 461 direct and indirect full-time jobs, $2.7 million in state taxes and a direct annual economic benefit of $44.5 million.

Paul Umbach, president of Tripp Umbach, said that because TGen performed better than expected over the past two years, the research firm projects larger impact numbers for 2015 and 2025 than it estimated two years ago.

“It is clear from our updated analysis that commercial spin-off activities from TGen are rapidly having a positive economic impact on the Arizona economy at just a time when adding jobs is so important,” Umbach said.

Arizonans stand to benefit in other ways, as about half TGen’s research is focused on cancer, about a quarter is devoted to neurological sciences such as Alzheimer’s disease, and the rest goes to metabolic diseases like diabetes, Trent said.

It also is involved with Scottsdale Healthcare in researching a new field of personalized medicine, the use of drugs to target specific cancers based on a patient’s molecular structure and vulnerabilities.

TGen has attracted international attention.

It was tapped last year by the International Biobank of Luxembourg.

International Biobank wants TGen to develop computer software to track tissue samples for research into lung and heart diseases.