Tennessee Biotechnology Association to Participate in Atlanta BIO Convention

SHARON H. FITZGERALD

Tennessee Biotechnology Association to Participate in Atlanta BIO Convention | Tennessee Biotechnology Association, Biotechnology Industry Organization, University of Tennessee Research Foundation, Robert Acuff, East Tennessee State University, Memphis Bioworks Foundation, biotech, biomedical

Robert Acuff

Tennessee Biotechnology Association to Participate in Atlanta BIO Convention

From involvement in an international meeting this May to encouraging stronger support for the biotechnology industry from state government and lawmakers, the Tennessee Biotechnology Association is tackling a roster of initiatives that members hope will result in more biotech jobs and investments in Tennessee.

TBA Chairman and President Robert Acuff, a professor at East Tennessee State University, said the organization is taking full advantage of the fact that the annual international convention of the Biotechnology Industry Organization is "right in our own backyard," scheduled for May 18-21 in Atlanta. BIO is the preeminent biotech trade organization representing more than 1,200 companies, academic institutions, state biotech initiatives and other stakeholders in the United States and at least 30 other countries.

TBA is sponsoring a 600-square-foot exhibit booth, under design by the University of Tennessee Research Foundation (UTRF) in collaboration with a Nashville event-management company. According to Joy Fisher, UTRF director of marketing and business development, the booth will focus on three biotech sectors: bioenergy, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, primarily in the orthopedics area.

Calling the BIO convention "a one-stop shop for anybody in biotech," Fisher said the TBA exhibit will also feature Tennessee entities ready to partner with biotech business interests. One example would be the state's enviable research institutions, which include Vanderbilt University, the University of Tennessee, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Another example would be Memphis' FedEx, with the ability to ensure fast delivery and shipment of time-sensitive supplies and perishable biomaterials.

In the past, Tennessee's rather small contingent at BIO was composed of economic development, university and research representatives. This year, TBA is aiming for 100 Tennessee attendees. "We're really encouraging private industry to take advantage of this opportunity," Fisher said.

UTRF works to commercialize and protect the inventions of UT researchers and supports economic development and entrepreneurship statewide. Stacey Patterson, a UTRF licensing associate, said BIO offers UT and the state's other research institutions a forum to spotlight their scientific breakthroughs and identify potential collaborators for research or licensing.

State Support

Also on the TBA calendar was a quarterly board meeting scheduled for the end of February in the Nashville conference room of Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey.

Ramsey was to address the board, and Acuff said he hopes the meeting "starts a dialogue with leadership in both the House and Senate to talk about biotechnology in Tennessee and hopefully get a stronger interest from the state in attracting biotech industry to Tennessee... I think it's been somewhat disappointing that our legislators in Washington know more about the Tennessee Biotech Association than our legislators in Nashville so we need a better partnership there."

TBA representatives have discussed with several legislators and brought to Gov. Phil Bredesen's attention their desire to see a percentage of the state's retirement fund invested in Tennessee biotech companies, Acuff said. Several states, including North Carolina, Maryland and New York, already do this.

"Nothing against bringing Volkswagen to Tennessee. We know that's great for the economy and we have a number of suppliers to the automobile industry," he said. "However, we think that there is a new opportunity with biotech that really could be harvested by the state."

Acuff noted that Bredesen has championed some biotechnology initiatives, the most recent regarding development of biofuels. The state does support the widely hailed partnership of UT and ORNL, and it has contributed to the Memphis Bioworks Foundations, a nonprofit working to leverage Memphis' biotechnology strengths into a profitable industry sector.

Success Stories

Memphis Bioworks is one of several success stories that Acuff said demonstrates Tennessee's abilities to sustain biotech initiatives. Memphis' biomedical cluster centers on the UT Health Science Center and development of the UT-Baptist Research Park, 1.5 million square feet of laboratory, education and business development space. Biotech enterprises in the Memphis area include orthopedics medical-device giant Smith & Nephew; Medtronic, developer of medical devices –– many implantable –– to treat coronary, diabetic and other illnesses; drug developer GTx; and arGentis Pharmaceuticals, which licenses and commercializes therapy discoveries and receives its cellular- and tissue-based products from LifeCyte, another Memphis company.

In Middle Tennessee, the latest biotech news is from Nodality, a San Francisco company establishing a product-development lab in Franklin. Using genetic or cellular markers, Nodality aims to determine which types of chemotherapies would best serve an individual patient. The lab is expected to open in April. Acuff also pointed to BioMimetic Therapeutics, well-established in the Cool Springs area, as a model to emulate. BioMimetic develops and commercializes drug-device combinations to repair bone, cartilage, ligament and tendon damage.

Acuff said he is "anxiously awaiting" the launch of technology-based businesses in the Johnson City area that are today taking advantage of a full-service incubator, ETSU's Innovation Lab. Six entrepreneurial startups are housed in the lab, including some biotech ventures. Under development in Knoxville is Cherokee Farm, a shared research campus of UT, ORNL, and other public and private partners.


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