Biotech Brass Plead Case

By Kris Hundley, St. Petersburg Times, Fla.

Oct. 17–WESTON — From a scientific perspective, Dr. Richard Lerner, president of Scripps Research Institute, couldn’t be happier with the way Florida’s biotech cluster is developing.

But Lerner and other biotech executives are palpably nervous about sustaining the state’s biotech momentum after the departure of the industry’s biggest cheerleader, former Gov. Jeb Bush.

At BioFlorida’s annual convention in Weston on Tuesday, Lerner and two other biotech executives praised Bush’s vision and pressed for continued support from the Florida Legislature. None of them mentioned by name Gov. Charlie Crist, who turned down an invitation to the meeting.

Crist, who has embraced global climate initiatives, has so far failed to voice much enthusiasm for the kinds of incentives his predecessor used to trigger Florida’s biotech boom.

But pulling back now, Lerner and others here said, would be a mistake.

“We’ve got to capture the moment,” said Lerner, who urged lawmakers to approve another round of the state’s $250-million Innovation Fund, used to recruit research organizations to Florida. “If we stop now, we will not be as great as we can be.”

Scripps, lured to the state four years ago with $510-million in public funding, has been joined by three more high-profile California research organizations, including SRI International in St. Petersburg. The latest recruit to Florida, Germany’s illustrious Max Planck Society, which is negotiating a deal to open an institute in Jupiter, shows that the state’s reputation has spread internationally.

Also being courted: the Courant Institute of Mathematics, an applied mathematics institute from New York University whose work helps biotech firms.

Lerner’s optimism was underscored by the recent announcement that Max Planck produced two of this year’s Nobel Prize winners. The organization has 78 institutes worldwide and has been promised $87-million from Palm Beach County over 10 years, and is hoping to receive an additional $90-million from the state.

Max Planck expects to begin operations as early as next year in space adjacent to Scripps’ facilities on Florida Atlantic University’s campus. Over time, it will have three departments and 135 employees in Florida.

Lerner said he is also in preliminary talks with officials at the Courant Institute of Mathematics about a possible expansion to the state.

“The very best want to come here now,” Lerner said. “The game has changed.”

The heightened interest was reflected in the record crowd attending this year’s conference, under way near Fort Lauderdale, of the state’s biotech trade industry. About 450 people registered for the two-day event, up from 400 a year ago.

Among those in attendance were Art Pappas, managing partner of Pappas Ventures, a venture capital fund in Research Triangle Park, N.C. For the past year, Pappas has had two employees reviewing potential life sciences investments in Florida. “I would not have put as much effort into this state if not for the Scripps deal,” he said.

In less than four years, Scripps has grown to more than 200 employees in temporary quarters in Jupiter; its permanent facilities are under construction.

Other biotech newcomers include Burnham Institute for Medical Research in La Jolla, Calif., which broke ground this month on its campus in Orlando. Burnham, which expects to have 300 employees within a decade, received $310-million in state and local funds.

Dr. John Reed, Burnham’s president, said the state’s financial commitment got his attention despite bids from several other states, including Arizona, Mississippi and Michigan.

“We need to continue building a culture of research,” he said. “We need to get the word out that it’s happening in Florida.”

Richard Houghten, president of Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies, said the relocation of his group’s headquarters from La Jolla to Port St. Lucie is moving quickly. TPIMS, which received $90-million in public incentives, has 12 employees at a temporary site and will have a permanent lab by December 2008. It expects to have a work force of 189 within 10 years.

“I just hope Florida’s Innovation Fund lasts for at least one more year,” he said. “It is the state saying it wants something to happen.”

Though Florida got high marks from the speakers for making them feel welcome, Burnham Institute’s president offered a more West Coast suggestion to BioFlorida: It might want to rethink its traditional golf tournament, a networking activity that precedes the annual meeting.

“I don’t know a lot of life science researchers who care about golf,” he said. “You might want to offer volleyball or surfing competition.”

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