Colorado Claims Middle Ground

While the acknowledged biotech hubs are in states along both right and left coasts, Colorado has its sights set on being home to the largest cluster in between. Several industry observers point to the state as one to watch in coming years. A burgeoning cluster of firms runs from Fort Collins south to Colorado Springs.
        "We are already one of the largest biotech regions between the coasts," says Bob Olson, executive director of the Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority, developer of the Colorado Bioscience Park in Aurora, just north of Denver.
        "There's tremendous optimism in Colorado as to where the industry is going," says Olson. "There's a strong enough cluster here now that if someone decides they don't want to work for one company, they can move to another."
        Colorado Bioscience Park is already home to 18 for-profit biotech companies. Seven are backed by venture capital while several are non-investor models. The Colorado biotech industry has a strong relationship with California venture capital firms, he adds.

See the SITES Biotechnology Industry Organization www.bio.org Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority www.colobio.com Georgia Biomedical Partnership www.gabio.org

        One of the latest firms to head for the mountains is HemoGenix, a small, young firm that eschewed its South Carolina birthplace in favor of Colorado Springs. HemoGenix is a bio-technology contract research and development laboratory specializing in testing new drugs for their toxic side effects on stem cells of the blood-forming system.
        HemoGenix is one of three firms in the world that perform this type of testing and the only one to make it its single specialty. The company was originally developed as an outsourcing service for drug development companies, but plans production of its testing technology as a kit available to researchers and universities and hospitals.
        State and local incentives – plus the region's growing stature in biotechnology – brought HemoGenix to Colorado Springs.
        "If we had stayed in South Carolina, it would have cost us more money to expand," says Dr. Ivan Rich, founder and CEO. "There's a growing biotech infrastructure here and good communication within the industry."