If you have news relative to the life sciences industry in the South, e-mail your press release to beverly@sb-d.com or fax your release to Beverly at 205-733-1974.

Texas Forms New Biotech Industry Council

Gov. Rick Perry announced in December plans for a new council to promote the life sciences in Texas. The Council on Science and Biotechnology Development will seek to make technology transfers easier in the fields of genomics, biopharmaceuticals, bioinformatics and nanotechnologies. One of the council's primary goals is the building of greater alliances between higher education, government and the biotech industry. The council will examine legal obstacles to tech transfers, place more emphasis on recruiting biotech firms, incentives and commercilization of products.

Novozymes Biologicals Expands in Roanoke

Novozymes Biologicals, Inc., a leader in the development and production of naturally occurring microorganisms for industrial, consumer and agriculture uses, announced in December it had chosen the Roanoke County Center for Research & Technology for the relocation and expansion of its local research and manufacturing operation. The move will save 65 existing jobs for Roanoke and create 25 new jobs. The company plans to invest $12 million within the next five years.

University of Florida to Build Center

President George W. Bush paved the way for a new $80 million facility for biotech research at the University of Florida with the December signing of a congressional appropriation. The new 355,000-square-foot center, which should break ground in the spring of 2003, will house major research and educational programs of the UF Genetics Institute, the UF Shands Cancer Center and the UF-based Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research.

Targacept Adding 27 Jobs in Winston-Salem

Biotech firm Targacept, Inc., has hired 27 new professionals in this Piedmont Triad, N.C. market. The new hires will bring total employment to 80 people. The highly skilled positions include scientists, biostatisticians and clinical resource associates. Targacept, founded in August 2000, is a spin off of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco and is developing compounds that mimic nicotine's therapeutic properties without harmful side effects. The drugs under development could treat diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

Missouri Seed Fund Grows

St. Louis-based Prolog Ventures has raised more than $33 million for the state's seed capital fund, sources at the Missouri Department of Economic Development reported in December. The fund is used to help new companies, especially those involved in the life sciences fields, to start or build their operations.

Pharm Manufacturer Expands in Baltimore

Chesapeake Biological Laboratories is planning a large expansion that could double its work force in Baltimore. The pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturer, located in Southwest Baltimore, currently employs 80 persons. The expansion is being done to accommodate growth in the contract manufacturing business. When life sciences companies get federal approval to sell their products, many times they will contract with companies known as "fill-and-finish" concerns to manufacture and distribute products. That is exactly the type of outsourcing Chesapeake provides.

Wyeth Genetics Expanding St. Louis Operations

Biopharmaceutical company Wyeth Genetics Institute is planning a major expansion of its St. Louis facility. The company is investing as much as $200 million to expand its campus, including more lab and office space and the conversion of a warehouse into a manufacturing facility. Company officials did not return our calls, however, we have learned that Wyeth is expanding to meet the growing demand of ReFacto, a product used to treat hemophilia patients.

Rome, Ga. Attracts UK Biotech Firm

Beocarta Ltd., a biotech firm spun from the University of Glasgow in Scotland, has chosen Rome, Ga., for its first North American operation. The company, which currently employs 13, maps bioprocesses such as metabolism, and focues on antibody and animal cell research. The company was formed in 1985 and is based in Glasgow. Europe's largest cluster of life scientists work at the University of Glasgow's Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences.

Biotech Site Changes Name, Business Plan

Officials of Houston's proposed $633 million Southeast Texas BioTechnology Park have changed the name of the project to BioHouston. They have also changed the scope and size of the project, citing the fact that state appropriations were not secured last year. Original plans called for the 64-acre park to include 15 buildings to be built over the course of the next 20 years. However, the purchase of the land for the park has not yet been made. Officials with BioHouston may instead start small, with an incubator, and grow from there.

Toronto Bio Company Moves to Houston

C Sixty, Inc., a nanomedicine company based in Toronto, has chosen Houston as its headquarters after investors in Texas' second-largest market put $4 million into the prospects of the company. Reports said the investor group includes some of the premiere private investors in both nanotech and biotech in Houston. The company focuses its efforts on the development of new medicines from fullerenes, also known as buckyballs. C Sixty's Web site says that buckyballs, which are comprised of 60 carbon atoms arranged in the form of a soccer ball with the diameter of one nanometer, or one-billionth of a meter, have become one of the most actively researched topics in chemistry.

Biopure Announces Addtional Financing for South Carolina Manufacturing Facility

In early December, Biopure Corporation signed an amended letter of intent with Sumter Realty Group, LLC that increases the real estate developer's financing commitment for Biopure's proposed pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Sumter, S.C. Construction of the new facility will cost between $110 and $120 million, up from the preliminary estimate of $85 million. Biopure, headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., is a leading developer, manufacturer and marketer of a new class of pharmaceuticals called oxygen therapeutics, which are intravenously administered to deliver oxygen to the body's tissues.

UCP-Bioproducts Break Ground in North Augusta

UCB-Bioproducts broke ground in November on a pilot customer application laboratory to increase peptide pilot production and meet evolving customer demands. The new facility marks a major initiative by UCB to meet the market need for top quality synthetic peptides and expand its already strong presence in the U.S. pharmaceutical ingredient market. UCB-Bioproducts, headquartered in Brussels, Belgium has been serving U.S.-based clients for more than 12 years and affirmed its presence in the country in 1999 by opening a global marketing office in Cambridge, Mass.

VasoGenix Chooses Kansas City Area

VasoGenix recently chose Kansas City to relocate the headquarters of its biotech startup. Originally based in Denver, the company located at Enterprise Center in Johnson County, Mo. Gary Yewey, Ph.D., president and CEO of VasoGenix said, "As a small drug developer, we need access to consultants who can work on a variety of issues and who know their way around the Food and Drug Administration. Outside of the East or West coasts, Kansas City is the only place where we've found people who can provide that professionalism." The Kansas City area continues to grow its base of life sciences related companies in an effort to meet a goal of raising the level of research to $500 million annually within the next decade.

USF Study Show $1.3 Billion Effect on Central Florida Economy

The University of South Florida released a report recently that showed Central Florida's High Tech Corridor generates over $1 billion in investments annually from biomedical and medical product companies. The report also noted that nearly 200 biomedical companies are based in the region, which runs west to east from St. Petersburg to Tampa, through Orlando and to Florida's east coast, including Daytona and Melbourne.

Georgia Company Wins Award

AntheroGenics, Inc., (Nasdaq: AGIX), a pharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases, was awarded the 2001 Biomedical Community Award in January by the Georgia Biomedical Partnership. Gov. Roy Barnes was also recognized for his support of Georgia's life sciences industry.