What is it: A comprehensive and searchable directory of all Florida biotechnology companies with active research and development activity. Uses metrics established by Ernest and Young.
Why it matters: Florida biotechnology companies represent about 10 to 11 percent of the United States’s biotechnology activity. The free database helps industry leaders identify/understand our region’s biotech companies and accurately assess industry growth. Venture capital firms use the directory to identify investment prospects.
When the Florida Biodatabase was established in 2008, there were only 136 biotechnology companies in the state. The industry has grown 60 percent since then: our state is now home to 227 companies.
“The Florida biotech industry remains healthy and continues to grow steadily,” said Michael Schmitt, MD, database cofounder.
Much of that growth has sprung from the GainesvilleAlachua area.
Unlike the state’s other biotech clusters in South Florida and Tampa Bay, the Gainesville region is unique because the majority of its biotech companies began as local startups.
“We have fewer biotech company transplants than other areas in Florida,” said Patti Breedlove, director for the UF Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator. “Thanks to the University of Florida, most of our bioscience companies are homegrown.”
BioFlorida, the state’s leading life sciences trade organization, has partnered with the UF Sid Martin Incubator to publish an annual state of the industry report, using data from the Florida Biodatabase.
Visitors can download a free copy of this year’s report from Sid Martin Biotech’s website at www.sidmartinbio.org