Event spotlights how UF research in biotechnology is changing world

May 5, 2009

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Entrepreneurs, University of Florida faculty, elected leaders, news media and others have an opportunity next week to learn how local and national developments in biotechnology are improving the world.

BioFlorida’s sixth annual Celebration of Technology, scheduled for May 12, will allow attendees to hear from a venture capitalist with expertise in health technology and devices and to meet and mingle with employees of biotechnology companies in North Central Florida.

The event will be held in tents from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the RTI Biologics campus in Progress Corporate Park, Alachua. The keynote speaker is Lisa Skeete Tatum, general partner of Cardinal Partners, an early-stage health care venture capital firm in Princeton, N.J. Exhibitors will include more than 70 scientific and other vendors. University administrators, staff, students and others also are expected to attend. Lunch is included.

At 1:30 p.m., tours will be held at UF’s Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator, the UF Biotechnology Education Center/Florida Biologix and RTI Biologics.

BioFlorida is Florida’s statewide trade association for the bioscience industry, providing advocacy, business development and communications services for more than 200 member companies. BioFlorida supports the health, agricultural and energy sectors of biotechnology as well as the pharmaceutical and medical technology fields.

North Central Florida has become home to the largest physical cluster of biotech/life science companies in Florida, anchored by companies such as RTI Biologics, Exactech and UF’s Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator. More than 80 percent of the 1,200 people employed in Progress Corporate Park work for start-up companies based on technology developed at the University of Florida.

Florida Biologix and the Biotechnology Education Center are part of UF’s Center of Excellence for Regenerative Health Biotechnology, which was established in 2003 to meet some critical statewide needs of this quickly growing industry. The center’s mission is twofold: to facilitate commercialization of biologic drug technologies by providing a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility; and to develop biotechnology curricula for statewide educational institutions and offer courses to train biotechnology workers.

The event is open to the public. The fee is $7 for BioFlorida members and $12 for nonmembers. Registration is available online at www.bioflorida.com or https://web.memberclicks.com/mc/quickForm/viewForm.do;jsessionid=1CF38118907C79C941EC785708BBD7E9?orgId=bio&formId=57656.

Sponsors of the event include Thermo Fisher Scientific, the city of Alachua, Biotech Vendor Services Inc., The Pittsburgh Conference (Pittcon 2010), the Gainesville/Alachua Council for Economic Outreach and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council.