Biotechnology is about North Carolina’s “economy and its future,” Governor-Elect Beverly Perdue told life science company leaders at a “Listen and Learn” session at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center November 24. “This engine will drive North Carolina,” Perdue told participants at the opening of the session. The program was organized by NCBIO at the request of the Governor-Elect’s transition team.

NC Governor-Elect Beverly Perdue
talks with meeting participants

In a company meeting prior to the Listen and Learn session, NCBIO President Sam Taylor outlined NCBIO’s policy priorities for meeting participants. Issues addressed in the briefing included:

• Accelerating commercialization of discoveries and innovations

• Improving early-stage companies’ access to capital

• Improving late-stage companies’ access to debt financing

• Assuring access to water and water capacity

• Encouraging up-fits, refits and expansions at manufacturing facilities

• Continued worker training programs

• Protecting patient access to innovation-based products
  

“These are NCBIO’s ongoing policy emphases,” said Taylor. “We invite you to adopt them in your discussions with Governor-Elect Perdue; but feel free to share different opinions if you disagree.”

North Carolina Biotechnology Center President Norris Tolson also attended the meeting and commended participants for their candid comments. Tolson is co-chairing the Governor-Elect’s transition team.

Several meeting participants noted the increasing stress that many start-up to mid-stage companies are facing because capital markets have dried up. Several participants suggested that, if North Carolina has funds available, it should consider providing support to continue the development of promising start-up technologies. Perdue responded by noting that state revenues have declined and there will be little money available for new programs. However, she expressed a willingness to consider initiatives that will continue to stimulate creation of new jobs in the life science sector.

“We are pleased that Governor-Elect Perdue is so interested in the life science industry. She has been very supportive in the past, and has indicated that she will work with us on these issues,” Taylor stated.

Governor-Elect Perdue requested a summary of the recommendations offered at the meeting. NCBIO is preparing a record of the proceedings, which will be forward to the Perdue transition team, along with specific recommendations reflecting NCBIO’s policy priorities. A copy of the report will be posted on the NCBIO website as soon as it is available.

North Carolina’s life science industry supports direct, indirect and induced economic impacts of more than $45 billion annually, according to a new Battelle Corporation report commissioned by the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. The report also shows that more than 53,000 North Carolinians work directly in the life science industry. An additional 127,000 jobs are supported by the industry.

NCBIO President Sam Taylor presents findings

In comments introducing the report, North Carolina Biotechnology Center President Norris Tolson noted that North Carolina has invested more than $1.2 billion in state funds for biotechnology research, education, training and economic development in the ten-year time period ending in 2008. "Smart, steady investment in biotechnology has created a major economic engine in North Carolina," said Tolson. “This technology will help us meet the major global needs of the future — health care, energy and food. But it also brings tangible benefits to North Carolinians in the form of jobs, and the potential is there for many more."

Investments included in the billion dollar total tabulated by the Center include:

• $857 million in research facilities

• $135 million for workforce training

• $115 million to the North Carolina Biotechnology Center

• $102 million in direct company incentives.
  

“Many of these appropriations were supported by NCBIO through its advocacy efforts,” said Taylor. “We are proud to have been a part of this impressive program of thoughtful investments in North Carolina’s life science industry.”

Battelle's Simon Tripp, who led the study, discussed quantitative and qualitative data on the benefits derived from North Carolina's unique 24-year history in bioscience investment. The 133-page report included research data as well as survey information from biotech stakeholders and CEOs of affiliated companies around the state.

Tripp said the Battelle study, entitled Evidence and Opportunity: Biotechnology Impacts in North Carolina, found that companies that receive financial assistance from the Biotechnology Center return $26.8 million a year in state taxes alone. These companies have attracted $99 in additional external funding for every dollar loaned to them by the Center.

Speaking at the news conference, NCBIO President Sam Taylor said, “The investments outlined in the reports have been – by and large – investments necessary to create the human talent necessary to make North Carolina a world leader in biotechnology. They have been investments in our work force. They have been investments in our schools. They have been investments in the researchers and the research laboratories needed to continuously advance discovery and understanding in the life science disciplines.”

Taylor stated, “All of these – our scientists, our teachers, our manufacturing workers, our laboratory technicians – are at the core of North Carolina’s biotechnology success story. They are what attract life science companies to North Carolina. They make it possible for companies to launch and grow here.”

“The economic success is not the only product of North Carolina’s biotechnology endeavor. The life sciences are also a source of new technologies that are changing our world in other ways. Biotechnology means new cures for disease and new treatments for other health conditions. Biotechnology is opening the doors to new sources of energy. It is improving crop yields and the quality of food products. It offers new tools for protecting our environment,” added Taylor.

For more information, click to see the full report, including an executive summary, and for a detailed accounting of the $1.2 billion in spending.

NCBIO reported to its medical technologies members December 11 on the Organization’s progress in planning a new Advanced Medical Technologies Center for North Carolina. The planning project is being funded with a $100,000 Centers’ of Innovation grant from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.

“This four-part initiative began in March of this year with a review of similar programs in other states and communities,” said Sam Taylor. Based on that review, our planning team developed specific goals and strategies for the new center and conducted an extensive series of interviews with industry stakeholders.” Based on these discussions, we are now drafting a proposed business plan for the new Center that will emphasize increasing North Carolina companies’ access to medical technologies-related talent and services, improving the visibility of North Carolina’s medical device companies to attract outside investment and recruit companies as well as stimulate creation of new companies.

NCBIO’s Biotech Manufacturers Forum met December 10 for best-practice sharing program highlighting organizational development initiatives at various member companies. Presenters at the program included Mike Brady of CRB Consulting Engineers on performance measurement in engineering projects, Biogen Idec’s Joydeep Ganguly on integrated approaches to process transfer and manufacturing, Dav Gouveia of Eisai Pharmaceuticals on the company’s results reviews program, and Nita Tosic of Wyeth on application of the Toyota culture of operational excellence initiative in the context of biomanufacturing.

Also on the 10th, the Forum’s Steering Committee heard a report from NCBIO President Sam Taylor regarding recent a recent policy report on state water allocation policy prepared by the North Carolina Institute of Government and Duke University’s Nicholas Center for Environmental Policy Solutions. “The recommendations in this report, if implemented, would constitute a major paradigm shift in North Carolina water policy,” Taylor reported. Taylor said that NCBIO would be preparing a more detailed analysis of the recommendations for distribution to member companies in the near future. Click for a copy of the report.

NCBIO, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center and the Biotechnology Industry Organization hosted a workshop December 9th exclusively for North Carolina journalists who are interested in learning more about biotechnology and understanding its importance to the state’s economy. The workshop was part of an initiative by BIO to help educate reporters about the life science industry. Similar programs are being offered in other states.

The North Carolina Biotechnology Center has awarded $1.3 million in loans to five promising biotechnology start-up companies based in the state. The loans are designed to fill funding gaps that small North Carolina life-science companies encounter as they move research toward commercialization. The Biotechnology Center revised its loan continuum this year to streamline the process and increase award amounts to better fit the state’s growing biotechnology sector.

The Center announced the following awards on December 15:

• Exigent Pharmaceuticals of Durham received $250,000 to help it develop compounds that would prevent the spread of drug-resistant bacteria.

• MastCell Pharmaceuticals received $203,000 to help its development of therapies to treat acute gastrointestinal allergic reactions. The Raleigh firm received a $24,900 Business Development Loan from the Biotechnology Center in 2006.

• Molecular Orthopaedics of Chapel Hill received $350,000 to develop a gene therapy treatment for osteoarthritis using biological nanoparticles.

• Trana Discovery of Cary received $250,000 to develop its drug-discovery platform to identify new drugs to combat bacterial infections. Trana is also the recipient of a 2006 Business Development Loan for $25,000.

• FirstString Research of Research Triangle Park received a $250,000 loan to help in its development of a series of drugs to reduce scarring and inflammation and regenerate complex tissues during wound healing. FirstString also received a $25,000 Business Development Loan from the Biotechnology Center earlier this year.
  

NCBIO worked with the Biotechnology Center in the 2007 General Assembly to secure additional funding for the expanded loan programs.

Register now for Biotech 2009, which will be held at the Raleigh Convention Center February 16 and 17. NCBIO members registering before January 16 can save $125 on the event. Biotech 2009 is presented by the Council for Entrepreneurial Development and co-hosted by the NC Biotechnology Center and NCBIO.

Biogen Idec President and CEO James Mullen will be the opening speaker for the event. Dennis Gillings, Chairman & CEO of Quintiles Transnational; James Greenwood, President & CEO of BIO; Dr. Victor Dzau, President and CEO of Duke University Health System; and Dr. Oliver Smithies, awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize and Excellence Professor at UNC-CH are among the speakers lined up for this 18th annual event.

The 2009 BIO International Convention will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 18-21, 2009. BIO and NCBIO are working collaboratively to maximize North Carolina’s participation in the event.

“North Carolina is considered a powerhouse in the biotechnology sector,” said Patrick Kelly, head of state relations at the Biotechnology Industry Organization at an NCBIO Board meeting in November. Kelly and other BIO representatives reviewed the BIO 2009 and outlined sponsorship opportunities at a meeting hosted by NCBIO on November 20.

The convention is the number-one global event for the biotechnology industry, and the 2009 event will give the southeast region a chance to showcase the life science industry in the area. The theme of the event for the second year will be “Heal, Fuel, Feed the World.” More than 2,200 exhibitors and 71 state and country pavilions will be part of the event.

North Carolina companies institutions interested in participating in BIO 2009 can also contact the North Carolina Department of Commerce about participation in the state’s exhibition pavilion at the event. Pavilion sponsorships range from $1,500 to $15,000. For more information, contact Joe Conaty at the North Carolina Commerce Department.

January 14, 2009. CED's Medtech Forum: Orthopedics-Products to Market. A few discussion topics include overview of orthopedics industry & market trends, process from idea to prototype, funding to regulatory approval and much more. MCNC, RTP, NC. For more information.

February 16-17, 2009. CED’s 18th annual Biotech Conference unites the Southeast's life science community to celebrate one of the biotechnology industry’s most dynamic regions. This two-day conference includes world-class speakers, a variety of panels on industry topics and trends, and networking opportunities with life science leaders. For more information.

March 4, 2009. CED's Biotech Forum: Partnering. CED’s bi-monthly Medtech Forum. Join medtech entrepreneurs, industry professionals, researchers and service providers. MCNC, RTP, NC. For more information.

March 16, 2009. CED's Biotech Forum: Emerging Opportunities. CED's Biotech Forum, in partnership with the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, explores industry topics and trends, features expert speakers and provides high quality networking. Join biotech entrepreneurs, industry executives, research leaders, services providers and investors quarterly at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, RTP, NC. For more information.

May 14, 2009. CED's Medtech 2009 Conference, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham, NC. For more information.

May 18-21, 2009. BIO International Convention, Atlanta, GA. For more information.