Southern Business and Development

BioIndustrySouth Spring 2005

ALABAMA

University of South Alabama Breaks Ground on $100M Cancer Institute

The University of South Alabama (USA) has broken ground on the first phase of the $100 million USA Cancer Research Institute, the first academic cancer research institute in the upper Gulf Coast region. The institute, funded initially through $65 million in tobacco settlement funds, federal appropriations, competitive contracts, and grants, and the USA Foundation, will seek to improve cancer survival rates through prevention, diagnosis, treatment, research discovery and development.

Gambro to Build New Manufacturing Plant in Opelika

Gambro Renal Products, part of Gambro Group, a Sweden-based global leader in renal (kidney) and cell-based therapies, will build a 100,000 square-foot manufacturing plant in Opelika. The plant will produce 10 million dialyzers annually to serve patients with kidney failure who must undergo dialysis treatment several times weekly for survival. Construction of the new plant, which will be built in Fox Run Business Park, will start the beginning of 2006 and is expected to be operational in about three years. The deal will create 150 new jobs.

FLORIDA

State, County Vote to go forward with Scripps despite Suits

The Palm Beach County Commission voted unanimously in May to go ahead with construction of the long anticipated Scripps Research Institute project at a controversial site called Mecca Farms. The move to go forward with the project is risky for Palm Beach County and the state of Florida because of pending lawsuits and even more litigation expected from the Sierra Club and the Florida Wildlife Federation to block construction of the first phase of the proposed biotech facility. When announced two years ago, the Scripps Research Institute was projected to encompass as much as 8 million square feet of space and create as many as 40,000 new jobs in South Florida.

Scripps Interim Facility Opens

The Scripps Florida interim research facility has opened at the Florida Atlantic University honors campus in Jupiter. The 41,600 square-foot laboratory facility is the temporary base for Scripps Florida research scientists while Palm Beach County and Scripps find and build a permanent home. The facility has 100 workers so far including 80 scientific professionals and 20 support people.

Sunrise Becomes Location for Bioheart Lab

A new biomedical research facility has announced in Sunrise, Fla. The company, Bioheart, will use its new lab to work on developing a long-term treatment for cardiovascular disease and congestive heart failure. The lab will house between 30-40 employees initially and the company plans to create thousands of jobs over the next decade in its new research home. Europe has approved the company for advanced clinical trials for cell therapy for heart repair. If the U.S. approves the treatment, Bioheart said it will increase production, add more laboratory technicians, and develop a Florida-based sales and marketing arm.

Ranbaxy Gains FDA Approval for Generic Drug

The FDA has given approval to Jacksonville-based Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals Inc. to manufacture and market a generic drug to treat urinary tract infections. The drug is the generic version of Macrobid, which had annual sales of $80 million last year. The company is a subsidiary of India’s largest pharmaceutical company.

Stem Cell Researcher Named Scripps Florida Professor

Scripps Florida has recruited a University of Miami professor for its Palm Beach County operations. The researcher, immunologist Howard T. Petrie, specializes in studying a type of immune defense cell that people may lose as they get older or use certain cancer medications.

GEORGIA

Georgia’s New Seed Fund Attracts First Start-up

Georgia’s new seed capital fund for life science companies has played a crucial role in attracting an early-stage biomedical technology company to the state. CytoDome, a start-up firm developing a promising new treatment for an especially aggressive form of cancer, recently moved its headquarters from Arizona to Georgia. The company is working on a new drug delivery technology focused on an aggressive form of brain cancer. This investment is the first one stimulated by the $3 million Georgia Biosciences Fund, which is designed to accelerate the growing and formation of biosciences companies in Georgia. Over the next two years, the company expects to hire as many as 15 employees, most of them engineers, scientists, and medical technologists.

KANSAS

Kansas City Discussing a Plan to Establish Cancer Center

Support appears to be aligning in Kansas City for a plan to pull together the area's assets to establish a leading cancer center. The plan would intimately involve the University of Kansas Medical Center, KU's main campus in Lawrence, Kan., and the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, located in Kansas City. It also provides a framework for involving big hospitals, oncology practices and clinical research companies from throughout the metropolitan area. Most importantly, it creates a pipeline from research to clinical trials to treatment that allows local players to benefit from and play off one another. A goal of the plan would be to gain designation from the National Cancer Institute as a comprehensive cancer center -- a designation proved to be worth tens of millions of dollars a year in research grants.

KENTUCKY

Genentech Considers Louisville for New Facility

San Francisco-based Genentech Inc., a biotechnology giant that develops, discovers, manufactures, and commercializes biotherapeutics to treat cancer and other medical needs is considering plans to develop a multimillion-dollar warehouse and distribution facility that could employ up to 60 people in the Louisville area. The company makes the drugs Rituxan, Herceptin, Avastin, Xolair, and others.

Biotech Company Attracts Funding from Northeast Investors

The four-year-old Potentia Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Louisville-based company, has closed a $2.6 million angel-investor-driven financing round. Of the 16 investors, 15 are from the northeastern United States, significant because angel investors typically put money in companies where they reside rather than ones in other states.

Life-sciences Company Approved for State Tax Incentives

CreoSalus, a startup life-sciences company, has been approved for KEDFA state tax incentives in Kentucky. The firm received preliminary approval for up to $800,000 in credits over 10 years. CreoSalus is considering Louisville for a $1 million manufacturing facility that would employ 30 people at a total annual payroll of $2 million.

MARYLAND

Gene Logic Expects to Reach Profitability in 2007

Gaithersburg-based company Gene Logic expects to see profits by 2007. In the meantime, it forecasts an annual loss of $26 to $28 million this year. Gene Logic said that it expects revenue to grow 10 percent this year and annual revenue to top $100 million in 2007. The company expects to have 20 experimental drugs in some stage of research by the end of 2005.

Qiagen Sciences Shifts Workers from California to Maryland

As part of a corporate restructuring to improve efficiency and lower costs, Dutch-based biotech firm Qiagen Sciences has shifted several dozen workers from California to its North American headquarters in Germantown, Md. The affected employees are in R&D, sales and marketing, production, and administration.

Goal of Seven Biotech and Tech Incubators by 2007 on Track for Montgomery County

Montgomery County, Md. economic development officials plan to have seven business incubators operating in the county by 2007. One of these is an incubator in Germantown, Md., where a biotech research park is planned in conjunction with Montgomery College. The park will feature space for commercial and academic tenants. On the east side of the county, a second research park with incubator is on track for the Calverton community.

Company Graduates from Business Incubator

ProteinOne has moved into 9,000 square feet of lab and office space in Bethesda after spending the past few years at the Technology Advancement Program (TAP) at the University of Maryland in College Park. The company wanted to be close to the National Institutes of Health, whose main campus is in Bethesda. ProteinOne, sells proteins to researchers to improve the drug-discovery process.

MISSOURI

New Angel Fund Available for KC’s Life Science Companies

One of Kansas City's most prominent technology entrepreneurs has formed a vehicle to invest in local technology and life sciences startups. Prairie Wind Angels incorporated March 22 and is actively recruiting investors. Prairie Wind Angels typically will make $250,000 to $500,000 investments in startups, according to company leaders, but will have the capacity to make a $5 million investment in capital-intensive life sciences firms.

NORTH CAROLINA

Eight N.C. Community Colleges Share Biotech Grant

Forsyth Technical Community College is awarding $160,000 to eight fellow N.C. community colleges to create workforce training programs for biotech. The National Center for the Biotechnology Workforce announced it is giving $20,000 to Catawba Valley Community College in Hickory, Mitchell Community College in Statesville, Caldwell Community College and Technical Institute in Hudson, Davidson Community College in Lexington, Rockingham Community College in Wentworth, Guilford Technical Community College in Jamestown, Surry Community College in Dobson, and Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro. Last year Forsyth Tech was designated as the lead institution for biotech training in the nation by U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao and given a $5 million grant to administer those programs through community colleges.

Targacept Named Among Best Employers in N.C.

Winston-Salem drug discovery company Targacept Inc. was named as one of the 10 best companies in the state to work for by Business North Carolina magazine. Targacept, which is located in the Piedmont Triad Research Park, has a staff of 75 scientists and researchers trying to develop new medicines to treat central nervous system disorders.

Targacept Presents Promising Drug Results

Targacept Inc. presented positive new medical research on two new drugs recently at the International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. The presentations were focused on the company’s two lead drugs, Ispronicline, which is in phase II clinical development for conditions marked by cognitive impairment that afflict the elderly, as well as TC-1827.

BioMerieux Posts 30 Percent Gain in 2004 Profit

A French diagnostics instruments maker, which has its U.S. headquarters in Durham, has released its full-year 2004 results showing operating income up 30 percent and net income up 37 percent from 2003. BioMerieux’s total sales increased 2 percent to $1.20 billion in 2004, with much of the growth coming from 3,500 new instrument systems installed for customers. The company has about 550 employees in Durham, where it makes several medical tests.

Company Moves to RTP from New Jersey

BioDelivery Sciences International Inc. has moved its corporate headquarters from New Jersey to the Research Triangle. The move was to centralize the investor and public relations activities of the company.

Triangle BioSystems Awarded a $500K Grant

Durham-based Triangle BioSystems Inc. has won a $500,000 Phase IIB Small Business Innovative Research grant from the National Science Foundation, which it will use to help commercialize a wireless system that monitors brain activity. The company is a provider of custom application specific integrated circuits for neural physiology applications.

Huntersville-based Orthofix Granted FDA Approval

Orthofix International N.V. has received approval from the Food and Drug Administration to market two new bone-growth stimulation products. Physio-Stim promotes bone growth for fractures in the arms and legs that aren't healing naturally. Physio-Stim is used on the lower back. Orthofix is a Huntersville-based supplier of medical devices for the orthopedic and trauma markets.

High Point Lands Distribution Center for Medical Products Company

Sunrise Medical Inc., a California-based medical products manufacturer and retailer, has chosen a facility at Eagle Hill Business Park in High Point for a southeastern distribution center. Company leaders say the Triad was chosen for its proximity to much of the company's East Coast customer base.

TENNESSEE

Center for Biodefense and Security Established in Tennessee

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center has established the Mid-South Center for Biodefense and Security to coordinate state, regional, and federal resources and to increase support for activities affecting homeland security. The center will also support the intellectual and scientific foundation necessary to develop advanced medical biotechnology breakthroughs that will help protect the region and country from potential agents of bioterrorism and emerging threats, serving as a model for collaboration between medical center and the community. In 2003, the university was awarded funding from the National Institutes of Health to support collaborative biodefense research. This award provided the seed for UTHSC’s biodefense program, which is affiliated with the Southeast Regional Center of Excellence for Emerging Infections and Biodefense, which is working to develop next-generation vaccines, drugs, and diagnostic devices.

Nashville Biotech Startup Launching First Products

BioDtech Inc., a start-up biotech firm, is ready to launch its first round of products aimed at the research market. The company is introducing its first three products EndoDtec, EndoZap, and EndoBind, which are the result of a deal the company has with the National University of Singapore. The products are made at Tennessee State University’s business incubator. The company also performs research and development at Cumberland Emerging Technology’s biotech incubator in downtown Nashville. BioDtech officials say that the products are designed to give researchers the ability to eliminate the effects of endotoxin contamination.

Downtown Nashville Incubator Signs Deal to Develop Ole Miss Research

Incubator Cumberland Emerging Technologies (CET), located in Downtown Nashville, will collaborate with the University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy to develop and commercialize new pharmaceutical products, a move that could lead to the creation of a life sciences incubator at the school. CET and Ole Miss will seek to take products based on university research through development and commercialization. CET is partly owned by Vanderbilt University and several of the incubators portfolio companies have come from there. The deal represents a move by CET to move beyond its Nashville home and to become a regional player.

Memphis Chosen to Host Biomaterials Conference

Approximately 1,500 scientists and engineers from around the globe attended the 30th annual convention of the Society for Biomaterials held in Memphis. In part, Memphis was selected to host the event because it has laid claim to a large piece of the musculoskeletal industry. Musculoskeletal devices -- including materials -- are a $15 billion industry growing at 12 percent a year; Memphis already accounts for 20 percent of the global market.

TEXAS

PPD Expands Austin Operation

PPD Inc. has relocated its Phase I clinic and Phase I-III central lab in Austin to a larger facility. The new facility is twice the size of the previous site, and provides greater capacity to handle more projects simultaneously. The move was prompted by increased demand for PPD’s management of early phase clinical studies in Austin, according to company officials. PPD, which employs about 1,100 in the Research Triangle, is a contract research organization and drug development company.

VIRGINIA

First Large Off-Campus Center Being Constructed Next to Hughes Institute

Developer Clarke-Hook has received approval to build what it hopes will be the first of many major developments around the $500 million Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Loudoun County. The new development, called the University Commerce Center, will include two buildings designed for science-based research and development, including wet labs and office space. The R&D labs at University Commerce Center could accommodate startup companies connected to the biomedical research at Hughes Medical campus. The Hughes Medical campus is slated to open in 2006 and will employ about 400, including up to 100 visiting scientists who will participate in campus research.

Ascend Therapeutics Gains $10M in Venture Capital Funding

Herndon-based Ascend Therapeutics has secured a second round of venture capital worth at least $10 million, which is timely as the company prepares its lead drug for a third round of clinical trials. The company will begin patient enrollment for its latest drug testing by the end of 2005 and is in discussions with pharmaceutical companies about development partnerships. The three year-old company has a pipeline of drugs directed at women’s health issues.