Universities Key to Growing State’s Biotech Sector

Jul. 10–South Florida’s universities will play a key role in the biotech cluster the state hopes to create.

One effort they are undertaking: forming a “virtual” incubator, a database of scientific equipment and talent available at four universities that could be used by researchers in South Florida.

This is just one way that Florida Atlantic University, Florida International University, Nova Southeastern and University of Miami are aligning their resources to support the biotech community. One example might be a mass spectrometer — an instrument to analyze chemicals available at UM that costs about $250,000.

A database is necessary because scientists “need their money to do research, not buy gizmos,” said Gary Margules, University of Miami’s assistant provost for technology transfer.

UM, which will be the administrative hub for the incubator, has joined with the other universities and Enterprise Development Corp. of South Florida, to apply for a two-year, $600,000 federal grant to support the virtual incubator.

Margules sees the virtual incubator as a stopgap measure while actual incubators are built as well as an ongoing resource.

“No incubator can have as much equipment as the schools can have collectively,” he said.

UM also is planning a wet lab research building on its medical campus and is working with the city of Miami to secure land for a biotechnology center. “It would be a bio park that would be a lot like hybrid incubators, a little university research and space for corporations,” Margules said.

Florida Atlantic University is converting a building near its Boca Raton campus into wet lab space and is exploring the possibility of an additional building through a public-private partnership, said Larry Lemanski, first vice president of research and graduate studies at FAU.

The lab space Scripps occupies at FAU’s Jupiter campus also could be used for bio startups once Scripps’ campus is constructed, he said.

“We think we need to explore the various options,” Lemanski said. One model might be privately developed lab space on campus that could be rented to companies and eventually would be turned over to the university after 30 or 40 years.

Margules said the universities and other community leaders now seem to be working more closely together on building a biotech cluster in South Florida.

“What’s important is that we don’t have too many incubators,” he said.

He points to existing biotech clusters in Tampa, Orlando and Gainesville. Universities must consider how many spin-off companies are likely to result from their research and the communities.

“There’s caution on everyone’s part not to overbuild. It can give you a black eye to have these empty buildings,” Margules said.

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