BioIndustrySouth News

Alabama

BioCryst Inks Bird Flu Deal with Japanese Biotech Firm

Birmingham-based BioCryst Pharmaceuticals signed a licensing agreement with Japanese company Shionogi & Co. Ltd. for development of antiviral Peramivir.   As the deal is structured, BioCryst could receive more than $100 million in potential payments and up to 20 percent of royalties on Shionogi antiviral drug sales in Japan.

Georgia

Biofuel Mill Coming to Appling County

A renewable biofuel mill is set to be built near Baxley, Ga., creating about 20 jobs immediately and an additional 90 later.  Fram Renewable Fuels, the company building the mill, will be the first tenant of a new tri-county industrial park, which covers Appling, Bacon, and Jeff Davis counties.

Rural Georgia Becoming Bioenergy Production Hot Spot

It’s been a hot few months for bioenergy in rural Georgia.  In February, Alterra Bioenergy Corp. selected Plains, Ga. for its 30-million-gallon biodiesel plant creating 20 new jobs.  Also that month, dot-com billionaire Vinod Khosla announced construction of a $225 million plant in Soperton to turn pine trees into ethanol.  His company, Range Fuels Inc., may also build other plants across South Georgia’s pine-tree belt.  Meanwhile, First United Ethanol broke ground in January on a $175 million factory in Camilla that should produce 100 million gallons of ethanol from corn.  The plant is scheduled to open in 2008 and will employ about 70.  In December, Alterra announced construction of a 10-million-gallon biodiesel plant in Gordon that will employ 15.

Maryland

$15M Biotech Research Plant Going to Baltimore

Virginia-based biotech firm Cel-Sci will build a $15 million manufacturing plant in Baltimore to produce its first cancer drug, which after 24 years is entering final testing.  Cel-Sci will build a 30,000 square-foot plant near its current offices at Seton Industrial Park.  The plant will be used to produce Cel-Sci’s blend of immune system proteins that make up its lead drug Multikine and will open in summer 2008.

Pelican Life Sciences Chooses Williamsport

A supplier of research and development products for the life sciences industry, Pelican Life Sciences, has chosen Maryland for its newest distribution location.  According to company leaders, the Williamsport location was chosen because of its easy access to both north/south and east/west transportation routes.  Pelican Life Sciences is headquartered in Charlotte, N.C.

Ethanol Plants to Advance in Baltimore Area

In Maryland, the Department of the Environment has given tentative approval to permit two ethanol manufacturing plants near Baltimore’s harbor.  The plants, which would be the first on the East Coast, include a $100 million/100 job project proposed by Atlantic Ethanol in Curtis Bay and a $200 million project proposed by Ecron Inc. for Sparrows Point in Baltimore County.

North Carolina

Merck Adding More Jobs in Durham

Pharmaceutical powerhouse Merck & Co. will create 50 to 60 more jobs and will invest about $100 million more than originally planned in its manufacturing complex that’s currently under construction in Durham.  The company is boosting its capacity to produce vaccines at the Durham plant and adding the ability to package them in cardboard cartons.  New Jersey-based Merck originally announced in 2004 that it would build a $300 million facility in the area that would employ up to 175.  The additional 115,000 square-foot expansion is expected to be completed in 2010.

South Carolina

GenPhar Expanding in Charleston Region

GenPhar, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing vaccines that protect against the world’s most dangerous infectious diseases, is expanding its operations in the Charleston-area community of Mount Pleasant.  GenPhar will grow from 20 employees to more than 140 and will construct a 50,000 facility that will be used for manufacturing as well as corporate office and laboratory space.

Texas

Bastrop Attracts Biotech Firm

Bargas Medical Manufacturing Inc. is moving its headquarters from Flatonia in South Texas to Bastrop.  The company plans to break ground on an 18,000 square-foot building in the city’s industrial park.

Virginia

Eli Lily Abandons Manufacturing Project in Prince William

Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lily has canceled plans for a $325 million facility in Prince William County, citing lack of demand for its insulin products.  Eli Lily has been building a 300,000 square-foot insulin manufacturing facility on a 120-acre site at the Innovation @ Prince William Technology Business Park.

For more news about the South’s growing life sciences industry, visit www.BioIndustrySouth.com.