South Carolina

Biotech Blossoms in South Carolina

With a respected research nucleus, an active industry association, emerging biotech companies, and solid financial support, South Carolina is poised to become a major player in the South’s rapid-growth biotechnology sector. Roche, Monsato, BASF, Bausch & Lomb and more than a dozen other biotech companies have chosen to do business in the Palmetto State.

Indeed, biotech opportunity already abounds in South Carolina and with the passing of the South Carolina Life Sciences Initiative Act the momentum is building from one end of the state to the other. Charleston, Columbia, Greenville and Greenwood are paving the way for a state that is dedicated to fostering biotech breakthroughs.

Karl Kelly, CEO of SC Bio explains, “The significant emphasis placed on life science research in South Carolina is developing an overwhelming demand for new company commercialization. These new companies are forming across the state and span the entire biotechnology industry - from transgenic plants to new pharmaceutical compounds. The Endowed Chair Program, creation of incubators, and new financing programs all support the progressive move by the General Assembly to create an environment for cultivating life sciences.”

Charleston alone boasts more than 60 companies involved in pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, therapeutics, medical devices and equipment, and agricultural research and boasts a laundry list of collaborative life science efforts.

The research-driven Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) houses over 600 investigators and four Centers of Excellence: the MUSC Heart Center, the MUSC Transplant Center, the Hollings Cancer Center, and the MUSC Digestive Disease Center. Charleston’s Hollings Marine Laboratory, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Proteomic Center, The Nephrology Proteomics Facility also bolster this region’s emerging biotech cluster.

The University of South Carolina’s Biomedical Research Program makes its home in Columbia, with its structured environment committed to growing biotech companies. And Greenville’s Clemson University hosts a biosystems research complex. The Greenville Hospital System, the fourth-largest multi-system hospital in the country, is part of a $160 million initiative designed to advance life science research. Biotech and pharmaceutical companies like Bayer, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline are part of a growing Greenville life sciences cluster.

Greenwood is home of SC Bio, the state’s life science incubator program with 22,000 square feet of lab space and business consulting services. SC Bio is a catalyst that helps support financial growth and marketing for emerging life sciences companies and aids the commercialization of biotech-related discoveries. Meanwhile, the Greenwood Genetic Center (GGC) is a leader in the Neural Tube Screening Project and hosts a nationwide diagnostics program. The Greenwood Biotechnology Park offers 500 acres of wooded sites adjacent to the GGC campus and SC Bio.

Why so much biotech activity in South Carolina? Plenty of compelling reasons. Beyond the world-class research facilities and existing industry clusters that validate the region, South Carolina’s location mid-way between Miami and New York provides easy access to materials and markets. The state is within one day’s drive of half the nation’s fastest growing markets via five interstate highways, nine commercial airports, and two national rail carriers.

Financial advantages that improve profitability and reduce capital outlay are also attracting biotech companies. The state assists with custom-designed financing and offers incentives, such as the Life Sciences Act, that offsets up-front costs for biotech start-ups. Attractive leases on custom-built facilities are also part of healthy incentives packages that increase a company’s vital working capital. South Carolina also provides biotech firms with hands-on assistance in developing private-sector partnerships that offset up-front costs and provide long-term financial security.

“In South Carolina we are aggressive and comprehensive in the support we offer biotech firms. Strong commitment to our expanding biotech cluster is found at all levels of state government,” says Jack Ellenberg, Director of Global Business Development for the S.C. Department of Commerce.

“What’s more, South Carolina offers an abundance of quality-of-life benefits that are useful for companies looking to attract the best and brightest minds. The advantages in South Carolina make recruiting easy.”

For more information about South Carolina, call the South Carolina Department of Commerce at 800-868-7232, send e-mail to info@sccommerce.com or visit www.sccommerce.com.