Fall 2005

Florida

Biotech Company Moving to Boca Raton

Drug maker Osmotica Pharmaceutical is moving its corporate headquarters to Boca Raton from Wilmington, N.C. The company chose South Florida because it facilitates access to research facilities and business partners in South America, Europe, and the U.S. The relocation will bring 25 corporate jobs to Palm Beach County.

Biomed Invests Big in Tampa Bay

Haemacure Corp. announced the selection of Manatee County in South Tampa Bay to locate their corporate office and R&D labs. The Canadian-based company, specializing in the development of innovative biological adhesives, biomaterials and surgical devices, will invest about $10 million in their new 50,000-square-foot facility. The company expects to add 51 scientists and technician jobs over three years.

Maryland

MedImmune Expanding; Creating Hundreds of Jobs

A new MedImmune plant in Frederick will create more than 200 jobs in Maryland in the next four years. The first phase, expected to be completed in late 2009, will have 331,000 square feet of office, lab and manufacturing space to accommodate up to 225 more employees. The remaining phases will include 379,000 square feet of additional space. The expansion is projected bring a total of more than 800 new jobs to Frederick and Montgomery counties.

Missouri

Gov. Blunt Honored for Support of Bio Industry

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt Tuesday has received the national Biotechnology Industry Organization Award for Leadership Excellence for his support of bioscience industry development in Missouri. In part, Blunt was selected because he has made development of innovative technologies a priority of his administration.

Pfizer Investing $200M

Pfizer is investing nearly $200 million to expand its research and development facilities in Chesterfield, Mo. The company employs about 1,200 workers in Chesterfield. The facility is one of six major R&D centers the pharmaceutical company operates worldwide.

North Carolina

Murdock Biotech Project Valued at $1B

California financier David Murdock's plan for establishing a biotechnology research campus in Kannapolis could grow to a $1 billion development that would create 5,000 jobs, according to projections. Murdock, who owns Dole Food Co. Inc. and real estate development firm Castle & Cooke Inc., plans to transform a 250-acre former Pillowtex Corp. plant and an adjacent 100 acres in downtown Kannapolis into the North Carolina Research Campus. The campus, which Murdock wants to develop in conjunction with the University of North Carolina system, would create 5,000 jobs, but spinoff employment could eventually grow to 30,000. Murdock will personally establish a $100 million venture capital fund to attract what is anticipated to be 100 biotech companies to the campus.

LabCorp to Locate New Facility at Kannapolis Biotech Campus

Burlington-based LabCorp, the second-largest medical testing company in the country, will open a new facility at the biotechnology campus planned for Kannapolis. Size of the facility and the timeline have not yet been determined.

Biolex Doubles Manufacturing Capacity

Biolex Therapeutics has doubled its manufacturing capacity at its Pittsboro facility, which now has more than 13,000 square feet of manufacturing space. The Pittsboro-based life science company also has more than doubled its work force over the past nine months and now employs more than 90 people in North Carolina.

N.C. Biotechnology Center Sets Up Offices in Greenville and Wilmington

The North Carolina Biotechnology Center is establishing new regional offices in Greenville and Wilmington to help develop biotechnology throughout eastern North Carolina. The Eastern and Southeastern offices will join two other satellite offices established in the past two years: the Piedmont Triad Office in Winston-Salem and the Western Office in Asheville.

Tennessee

Cool Springs Life Sciences Center Opens First Building

The Cool Springs Life Sciences Center, located in Franklin, Tenn., has opened its first building, the beginning of what officials hope will become a 150,000-square-foot campus for biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device firms. The initial 32,000-square-foot facility in Cool Springs will eventually be joined by two other, larger facilities that are still in the planning stages. These facilities will provide dedicated space for biomedical laboratory research, product development and product manufacturing.

Nashville Biotech Incubator Expands

Cumberland Emerging Technologies (CET) plans to expand its downtown life sciences incubator by 5,400 square feet to house additional laboratory and research space. With construction set to be completed this year, the CET Life Sciences Center has another 20,000 square feet available for potential development.

Texas

University of Texas Receives Funding for Drug Development Institute

The University of Texas received $3.5 million to finance an institute that will encourage the development of new drugs. The university's Texas Institute for Drug and Diagnostic Development received the gift from Houston-based Welch Foundation. The institute seeks to connect scientists researching diseases with drug development specialists, and speed more drugs into the commercial arena.