Gainesville and Alachua are home to.one of Florida’s top three biotech hubs. “Unlike other areas in Florida, most of our biotechnology companies are home-grown largely due to the University of Florida’s large research base and strong Office of Technology and Licensing,” said Patti Breedlove, director of the UF Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator at Progress Park.
What’s the economic impact of biotech on our community? The incubator itself is home to nine resident companies and 14 affiliated clients. Their companies and graduates produce an average annual economic impact of more than $100 million.
There are no official studies assessing the reach of the entire local biotech industry in terms of jobs, spending and other indicators, Breedlove said. But some sense of what’s happening can certainly be extrapolated from available numbers.
In a recent seven year period, incubator companies and graduates created 1,467 jobs regionally and had a $753 million local economic impact. Sid Martin Biotech companies alone have attracted $1 billion in equity investment, contracts, grants and other activity since the program started in 1995, she said. “And $400 million of that was in the last twelve months!”
“Some of our biggest area bioscience companies are RTI Surgical, Exactech and Invivo, and they are not even included in these numbers. Those three companies alone employ more than 2,000 people. Younger, smaller companies can be found in Progress Park in Alachua and at the Innovation Hub,” she said.
The Hub is another catalyst for startups at the downtown Innovation Square.
Progress Park is home to 35 companies that employ 1,100 people who are researching, investigating and otherwise supporting the kind of biotechnology changes that are rocking our worlds as well as the worlds of venture capitalists who are investing in what’s happening.
“It’s fascinating because you would never expect a region in the middle of Florida to become such a center. It is not typically a place where major biotech goes to look for technology,” said Dr. Bard J. Geesaman, managing director at the Boston-based MPM Capital.
Geesaman, a physician who also holds a doctorate in computational neurobiology and systems biology, said the allure of Gainesville is a potent combination of a committed academic environment and a business setting that supports commercialization of products.
“When they collide, lots of interesting things happen,” he said.
David L. Day, UF assistant vice president and Office of Technology and Licensing (OTL) director, echoes that assessment.
“Gainesville will never be Boston or San Francisco, but I do believe we will be one of the top dozen biotech hubs in the United States when we achieve our potential,” he said. “We have assembled many of the pieces: the vibrant growing research base …investment capital…seed capital… and expert local management talent.”
Biotech research achievements bring more biotech dollars. Swiss agribusiness giant Syngenta acquired incubated company Pasteuria Bioscience for $113 million last year. AxoGen Inc., focused on nerve regeneration technology, went public and started trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Nanotherapeutics Inc., which also got its start in the incubator, just received a multimillion-dollar contract with the Department of Defense that could potentially earn more than $360 million over the next decade, according to recent announcements.
One of the first area biotech companies to make an acquisition splash was NovaMin Technology Inc., purchased by the U.K. pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline for $135 million in 2010.
Former CEO Randy Scott still has his eye on Gainesville, but now as a partner with Sofinnova Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Menlo Park, Calif.
“I think it was more symbolic than monetary, although there certainly was a monetary impact as well,” said Scott, looking back at his past success.
Before selling NovaMin, the company was one of the first in the area to receive large outside venture capital. With the sale, the company became one of the first to create a large return for investors.
“So among investors that made it cool to invest in the Gainesville area,” he said.
These biotech undertakings are changing the face of our once rural backcountry and making it, if not Silicon Valley East, certainly a place that is bringing in venture capitalists who are interested in being part of the next best thing.
In the past 12 years, the OTL has helped more than 140 biomedical and technology companies get off the ground and specifically 15 in the last year, according to a UF news release. The Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) ranked the area fourth nationally for new startup launches.
“Collectively, these companies raise about $200 million of investment capital annually,” Day said. “This is a testament to the quality of the research, the fact that they are unique, well-protected innovations, and the fact that experienced, credible entrepreneurs are attracted by the possibilities to leverage this work for commercial success.
“Capitalism is our instrument to achieve social good, so whether they are a CEO or an investor or service provider, we can help them to create and grow companies…Everyone makes money, taxes get paid, jobs are created; it’s a virtuous circle,” he said.
It also helps that the incubator is piling up accolades. This year, the Swedish-based research group, UBI, named it the “World’s Best University Biotechnology Incubator” and the National Business Incubation Association named the UF Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator the 2013 Incubator of the Year.
“There’s a future here because of local biotechnology entrepreneurship,” Breedlove said.
For example, Nanotherapeutics Inc. hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new manufacturing facility that will create 150 new jobs. Axogen and Pasteuria Bioscience are also expanding, she said.
“This means there are jobs for graduates, and students don’t have to leave town to have great careers,” she said.
The prevalence of biotech also has significance for our community’s millennials.
“As a twenty-something, it means a lot to know that there’s tangible biotechnology opportunities in this college town,” said Nathalie McCrate, a public relations intern at the Sid Martin Incubator.
“Companies here are revolutionizing the way we think about medicine, agriculture and alternative energy: they’re protecting our troops from bioterrorism threats, helping farmers ensure a more bountiful harvest and disrupting the way we fight germs in hospitals and schools. How incredible is that?”