Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center in Doylestown is epicenter of startups, investment
Timely state investment and cutting-edge laboratories and support has positioned the Doylestown-based Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center as crucial cog in Bucks County's burgeoning scientific industry.
The center looks to maintain its pace by maximizing the investments it receives and improving upon its academic offerings. It recently received a $5 million investment from the state for the center's Academic Innovation Zone program. It will directly support early-stage companies and academic technologies in the life sciences at both its Doylestown and Philadelphia incubators.
"This sizable grant not only will allow us to expand our services to help promising companies grow, it is a significant statement from some of the state’s top elected officials about their confidence in the PABC," Center President and CEO Louis P. Kassa said. "The Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center has produced several thousand new jobs and generated more than $10 billion dollars in economic impact over the past 16 years, and the Academic Innovation Zone will greatly enhance and accelerate our efforts."
The center operates two facilities. The headquarters and original location is in Doylestown, and B+labs at Cira Center is in Philadelphia. B+labs is run by the center in partnership with Brandywine Realty Trust.
According to the center's Economic Impact 2016-21 report, the center produced 1,135 new jobs while generating $7.3 billion in economic activity.
"We want this to be one of the most successful life sciences incubators in the country," Kassa said. "In 2013 we had 32 companies (enrolled in the incubator programs), and now we're up to 50. And now, we are getting (inquiries) from companies from across the country because one, they see what's going in in the Philadelphia region with access to research talent and its affordability, and two, because they see that our incubator model is a great model."
Several companies that joined the incubator have thrived, some so much they were bought out by bigger players.
OrthogenRx, Inc., a medical device company focused on the development and commercialization of treatments for knee pain caused by osteoarthritis which launched in 2012 at the center, is one such company.
According to center spokesperson Ed Tate, OrthogenRx received $187,500 from the Bucks County Employees’ Retirement Board in 2015 and repaid the county’s investment plus interest of about $44,000.
Avanos recently paid $130 million in cash for the Dolyestown-based OrthogenRx and agreed to an additional $30 million in contingent cash consideration, depending on product milestones.
And Johnson & Johnson recently purchased Novira Therapeutics for an undisclosed sum.
Novira Therapeutics, another center success stories, launched in 2009 and joined the incubator in 2015.
"I think it's a great example of entrepreneurship meeting science meeting geography," said Bucks County Commissioner Chairman Bob Harvie. "Look at where we are. We have the hospitals here and in Philadelphia and New York and the pharmaceutical industry is all around us.
"There are companies focused on all kinds of breakthroughs in the biomedical and biotechnology fields, so for the center to be thriving as it is — giving scientists a place and laboratories and the support they need to make major breakthroughs — I think it's exciting for Bucks County."
With such expansion, Kassa had to become more judicial in which company the center partners with. To reach that decision, Kassa said he and his team, "Focus on co-collaboration" as a starting point.
"When we pick a company, we look at CFO and CEO experience. We also look at their intellectual property and and look at where it's from. Is it from Penn? MIT? And are they funded through a grant or venture capitalists or (business) angels?" Kassa said. "We also ask if they have equipment they want to bring in and if so would they share it, because equipment really is the backbone.
"And part of our job is to get those companies together and get to know them as neighbors," Kassa added. "Our scientists are already like neighbors, by going to seminars and work lunches together."
State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, D-10 supports the work of the center, which has benefitted from state investments.
"Entrepreneurs at the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center have produced more than $2 billion in company value, created hundreds of new jobs and launched several publicly traded companies," he said. "Our state investments not only spur further economic growth to the area’s biotech sector, but they have the added benefit of helping to save lives and to improve the quality of life for many.”