North Carolina Biotechnology Center

Triad Group to Release 21 Ideas for Boosting Biotechnology

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue to speak at Triad BioNight celebration
tonight

GREENSBORO, N.C., July 14 -- The Advisory Committee for
Biotechnology in the Piedmont Triad will formally release 21
strategic recommendations for strengthening the industry during the
Triad BioNight reception and awards banquet tonight at the O. Henry
Hotel.
The advisory committee, a group of more than two dozen academic and
industry leaders working with the North Carolina Biotechnology
Center, drafted the recommendations to work in tandem with Gov. Mike
Easley's plan New Jobs Across North Carolina: A Strategic Plan for
Growing the Economy Statewide Through Biotechnology.

"A statewide plan for biotechnology is in effect, and now a strong
plan has taken shape that is tailored to the Piedmont Triad region's
needs and effort," said Russ Read, vice chair of the advisory
committee and executive director for the National Center for the
Biotechnology Workforce at Forsyth Technical Community College. "As
a part of the larger concerted effort, this is a most significant
accomplishment for the region and for the continuing effort of
biotechnology economic promotion for all of North Carolina."

The advisory committee's 21 recommendations call for:
- Creating a regional directory of goods manufactured by local
biotechnology companies;
- Building a database of available wet lab space;
- Forming a legislative team to monitor the Triad's
biotechnology
priorities;
- Collecting economic and academic data from primary and
secondary data
sources;
- Hosting a reception dinner to showcase the Triad's
biotechnology
community;
- Partnering with the Council of Entrepreneurial Development to
host
Biotech 2006;
- Developing national and regional public relations and
advertising
campaigns extolling the virtues of the Triad's biotechnology
community;
- Marketing agricultural biotechnology;
- Creating intellectual exchange groups based on scientific
topics;
- Operating databases of university research and intellectual
property
assets;
- Providing more interaction between the Triad's universities
and
industry members;
- Developing innovative training and career programs;
- Creating a Translational Research Center for the central
nervous system
and behavioral sciences;
- Promoting community college programs and develop new ones
based on
industry feedback;
- Determining recruiting needs and the alliances needed to
bring renowned
researchers to the Triad;
- Creating financial packages to support recruitment efforts;
- Forming a welcoming committee for new clients;
- Providing affordable, short-term office/lab space by creating
a "wet-
lab hotel";
- Creating low-cost office space for foreign countries to place
a
regional liaison;
- Forming a team with local partners to recruit contract
manufacturing
companies;
- Attracting entrepreneurs to develop businesses around the
region's
Centers of Excellence like the Institute for Regenerative
Medicine.

The recommendations reflect about 18 months of work for the advisory
committee.

"Through efforts such as those of the Advisory Committee for
Biotechnology in the Piedmont Triad, we are building a community to
support biotechnology that has few equals nationally or
internationally," said Committee Chair Dr. Rosemary Wander,
associate provost for research at the University of North Carolina
at Greensboro.

The next step, said Gwyn Riddick, director of the Piedmont Triad
Office of the Biotechnology Center, is for six project teams
appointed by the advisory committee to begin implementing the 21
recommendations in concert with partner organizations in the
Piedmont Triad.

One of the recommendations will come to fruition tonight when the
Biotechnology Center and 29 other sponsors host the Triad BioNight
celebration, at the O. Henry Hotel, 624 Green Valley Road, in
Greensboro, starting at 6 p.m.

The event will feature a keynote address by Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue
on biotechnology and the new economy and a networking reception and
awards banquet for the Piedmont Triad's biotechnology community.
Other speakers will include Don deBethizy, CEO of Targacept;
biotechnology entrepreneur Max Wallace, chairman of the Innovation
Foundation and president of The Arbor Group; and Leslie Alexandre,
president and CEO of the Biotechnology Center.

In addition, Gayle Anderson, president of the Winston-Salem Chamber
of Commerce, will give an update on the Triad's biotechnology
assessment and index project.

Five awards will be given to honor the work of key leaders in the
Piedmont Triad's biotechnology community. The awards, and their
recipients, are:

- Research and Development Excellence: Anthony Atala, M.D.,
director,
Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and chair, Department of
Urology,
Wake Forest University Health Sciences
- Entrepreneurial Excellence: Roland H. Johnson, president &
CEO,
Piedmont Pharmaceuticals
- Academic Development Excellence: Gary M. Green, Ed.D.,
president, and
Lucas Shallua, D.Sc., biotechnology program coordinator,
Forsyth
Technical Community College
- Piedmont Biotechnology Community Leadership Excellence: Gwyn
Riddick,
director, Piedmont Triad Office, North Carolina Biotechnology
Center
- Biotechnology Service and Support Excellence: Bill Dean,
president,
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The North Carolina Biotechnology Center, headquartered in Research
Triangle Park with satellite offices in Winston-Salem and Asheville,
is a state-supported, non-profit corporation. Its mission is to
provide long-term economic and societal benefits to North Carolina
by supporting biotechnology research, business and education
statewide.

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Source: North Carolina Biotechnology Center

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