hy Winston-Salem/Forsyth County has been able to achieve success in this highly competitive area boils down to a unique combination of affordability, accessibility and a collaborative relationship between business, medical research and community.
   While many communities claim to be ideal for biotechnology and life science, Winston-Salem proves it with a track record, ample resources, infrastructure and available facilities.
   With a renowned medical school (Wake Forest University), a developing urban research park (Piedmont Triad Research Park), a regional office for the North Carolina Biotechnology Center and a critical mass of life science companies already here, we can state confidently that Winston-Salem is where biotechnology and life sciences thrive.
   When Dr. Anthony Atala announced earlier this year that he had found a new source of stem cells for biotech research, the news media went wild for the story. But, for Dr. Atala and the researchers at Wake Forest University's Institute of Regenerative Medicine, it was just another in a startling series of breakthroughs.
   Atala, who ranked sixth on Fast Company magazine's "Fast 50" in 2006, has become a fixture on the research scene in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He has successfully grown human organs in a laboratory, thus making it possible to provide transplant patients with organs grown from their own tissue. The potential applications are staggering.
   But the Institute is far from the only biotechnology attraction in town. North Carolina's 146 biotech companies (fourth nationally) make the state a hotbed for research, and Winston-Salem is an emerging leader in this field. Wake Forest (one of the city's seven colleges and universities) regularly ranks as one of the nation's most wired campuses in addition to its outstanding reputation as a research center.
   One of the main attractions for biotech researchers is the city's expansive campus-style development called Piedmont Triad Research Park . The park was created in 1998 and offers 300,000 square feet of lab and R&D buildings within what is labeled as an "advanced technology community." In 2003, plans were announced to expand the park to 5.7 million square feet.
   Piedmont Triad Research Park is home to a number of Wake Forest Medical School related enterprises, and also private sector companies like Targacept. Having recently hit the New York Stock Exchange and partnering with companies like AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline, Targacept is a biopharmaceutical company "engaged in the design, discovery and development" of a new class of drugs to treat diseases and disorders of the central nervous system.
   North Carolina is consistently ranked as one of the top states in the nation as a favorable place to do business. There are a number of state and local programs designed to assist companies who are interested in doing business in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County. Let Winston-Salem Business Inc. discuss your next project and find out how we can help your company locate here.