Companion Piece To:Building on Success and Targeting Opportunities for the Future: Strategic

Accomplishments

July 2009 through June 2011

Companion piece to:Building on Success and Targeting Opportunities for the Future: Strategic Directions and Tools for the North Carolina Biotechnology Center

The following list catalogs the accomplishments in concert with the document
Building on SuccessandTargeting Opportunities for the Future: Strategic Directions
and Tools for the North Carolina Biotechnology Center.

Accomplishments: July 2009 through June 2011

Strategic Direction

Innovation and Emerging Applications

Centers of Innovation

Supported the Centers of Innovation with financial and staff resources. TheCOIs continued execution of their business plans to accelerate commercialization in their industry sectors. Each has a representative accomplishment below:

Nanobiotechnology (COIN) has coordinated the NanoBio Executive Roundtable series to promote networking connections that further commercialization. The roundtable has welcomed 500 participants from eight different states.
Advanced Medical Devices COI – ibiliti - the Mission Healthcare System, the Mission Foundation, the Biotechnology Center’s Western office and regional partners will launch the NC Medical Center Commercialization Catalyst. This pilot programwill evaluate innovative medical technologies from our regional medical centers for commercialization potential.
Drug Discovery – Phase II grant approved ($2.5 million as milestones are met.) The DDCOI has worked with the National Institutes for Health’s Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Disease (TRND) to submit a statement of work for program management/oversight capability for thisunit’s projects.
Marine Biotechnology – Phase II grant approved ($2.5 million as milestones are met.) This COI is recruiting an executive director and forming their board of directors.

Agricultural Biotechnology

Created the AgBiotech Group to lead implementation of the objectives of the 30 in 10 strategic plan. Overall, the plan aims to grow the state’s ag economy to $100 billion by 2020 through the use of biotech tools. Initial accomplishments include:

Created and produced a series of Grower/Farmer Opportunities Conferences in two locations. A total of 152 people attended.
Developed and delivered an Entrepreneurial Farmer training program for early adopter farmers and growers with 52 attendees in the Eastern region of NC.
Convened a Consortium of Ag Biotech community and corporate leaders to prioritize issues in the sector for developing an action plan.
With Nagoya University,hosted the first Agricultural Biotechnology Industry Roundtable with 130 attendees.
Compiled AgBIOCEPS database and listing of early stage ag biotech companies.
Facilitated creation of new Alexandria Ag-Tech Center.
Encouraged grant and loan applications from ag researchers and companies.
Created the North Carolina Biotechnology Agricultural Advisory Council and related work groups to guide strategic project activities.

Research Funding

FY 2011 awards from the Science and Technology Development unitare listed below.The directeconomic impact of these awards includes 34.5 job years funded and more than $166,000 spent for goods and services potentially at N.C. companies.

Eight Biotechnology Research Grants totaling $595,325.
Four Collaborative Funding Grants totaling $400,000.
12 Institutional Development Grants totaling $1,378,772.
Four Multi-disciplinary Research Grants totaling $945,881.

Technology Transfer

Moving ideas from the university laboratory to the market requires dedicated attention in a number of ways. The Biotechnology Center:

Awarded $249,842 in five Technology Enhancement Grants in fiscal 2011– a record number – to enable researchers to perform studies leading to licensing of their technologies; one grant led to licensing of the technology to a new startup drug delivery company.
Continued to drive the start-up of new companies through the BATON program; BATON has now supported the creation of more than 20 companies by connecting them with the Biotechnology Center’s BATON network that now stands at more than 300 service providers and 50 experienced entrepreneurs.
Worked with regionally based UNC System schools and local research parks to facilitate conversations about technology transfer and entrepreneurship. Worked with UNCW, UNCP and others to establish a network of bioaccelerators in the region.
Worked with the Piedmont Triad Advisory Committee’s Innovation Action Team to create opportunities for industry-academia collaboration.

Developed the Licensing Executives Society chapter in Charlotte.
Initiated a series of pharma-university collaboration events during which corporate scientific and licensing teams from multinational drug companies are connected with academic researchers and technology transfer staff members to spur collaborations that drive funding for universities statewide.

Building Relationships

Having the right people in the discussion is key to developing emerging applications of biotechnology. The Biotechnology Center:

Provided administrative support forIntellectual Exchange Groups in 12 scientific disciplines with 70 events attended by 3,448 participants.
Conducted statewide surveys of academic and industry assets and experts in cancer research, stem cells, regenerative medicine, and vaccines.
Presented the SciTech Research Funding Opportunities and Grant Writing Workshops across the state and on-demand via the web. Developed relationships regionally to link researchers with Biotechnology Center grants and loans.

Strategic Direction

Capital Formation

Pipeline Development

Educated locally capital groups, including the Wilmington Investor Network, in the fundamentals of life-science opportunities. Employed the Piedmont Triad’s Investment Action Team to identify funding sources and options.
Worked with organizations, including the NC Rural Center and Biofuels Center of North Carolina, to nurture high-growth startups, especially in rural areas.support biotechnology entrepreneurial ventures and later stage biobusinesses.
Co-sponsored events, often with the SBTDC, to develop investor-ready companies and entrepreneurial talent.
Worked with regional stakeholders to increase visibility of and participation in Biotechnology Center grant and loan programs.
Compiled market research reports to support client funding requests.
Held annual Emerging Company Preview events that allowed earlier-stage life-science companies to refine their strategies and pitches through constructive criticism from regional investors and experienced executives.
Held 15 events for the Life Science Business Development Professionals of North Carolina, enabling business development executives to share best practices.

Venture Capital Outreach

Connected venture capital firms and funding organizations (from North Carolina and beyond) with internal and external clients.
Worked to link early-stage companies with venture capital investors and angel networks, specifically the regionally based Inception Micro Angel Funds.
Attend regional and national investor events.

Funding

Awarded a total of $2.8 million in loans to 18 companies during FY10 and 11. Many of these companies received significant follow-on funding from other sources.
Two loan portfolio company acquisitions led to a significant financial benefit for the Biotechnology Center and the state.
Developed new procedures and streamlined others to shorten loan application review times and reduce the number of past due loans.
Implemented loan performance metrics to improve loan assessment and better understand changes in the risk profile of specific loans and the loan portfolio.
Created Economic Development Award to fill gap in funding/incentive programs and support job creation and investment in North Carolina.
Backed creation of loan-guarantee program so developing life science companies can access capital for facility expansion.

Strategic Direction

Workforce Development

K-12 and Program Development

Provided $954,888 in Education Enhancement Grants to create or strengthen science education. More than 2,400 students will benefit from these awards.
The N. C. Association of Biomedical Research produced “Heal, Feed, Sustain,” a video that will reach thousands of 9th graders exploring careers.
Funded 26 Undergraduate Biotechnology Research Fellowships with $128,957.
Coordinated or sponsored events to support regional educational partners, and developed region-specific education offerings, including:
BioEducation Forums, designed to introduce a range of educators to life science activities and opportunities within eastern NC and the state.
University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Clinical Research Associate program.
BioMoto STEM Challenge.
Through teachers trained at summer workshops, continue to reach an estimated 50,000 middle or high school students per year:
Welcomed 280 high school and middle school teachers to 16 professional development workshops in biotechnology during two summers.
Enabled300 teachers to perform hands-on biotechnology experiments in their classrooms with access to free experiment kits.
By managing the grant, helped the Center of Innovation in Nanobiotechnologydistribute science kits to high-school science classes.

Workforce Development

Completed statewide biopharmaceutical labor market study to demonstrate wide availability of labor for new facilities across the state.
Supported NCBioImpact by evaluating skill standards for entry level jobs, by analyzing industry feedback on the training consortium’s success, and by marketing the consortium as a competitive advantage for North Carolina.
Provided more than 900 course manuals to nine community colleges for BioWork classes during the past two years. (Actual enrollment figures may be lower.)

Professional Development

Support recruitment and retention of scientists and entrepreneurs to/within the region to build upon workforce talent pool.
Fielded 22 company requests for the Industrial Fellowship Program in FY11 for five positions.
Worked with CED and partners on the Biotech Forum, which addresses funding, partnering, regulatory environment and other key issues in life science.
Implemented new software for the statewide jobs website, which draws 70,000 visitors each month, about half of the overall ncbiotech.org traffic.

Strategic Direction

Statewide Development

Developed five regional advisory committees, involving more than 100 community thought leaders. Worked through these advisors to capitalize on opportunities, form strategic alliances, forge multi-disciplinary collaborations and apply biotechnology to create new companies and jobs.
Regional executive directors and program staff worked to create opportunities to deploy center funding more broadly statewide. This included program managers attending Advisory Committee and other meetings throughout the year.
Worked with the Centers of Innovation to align regional opportunities with individual COI activities. Examples include working with ibiliti on an event in medical technologies for regional economic developers; customizing COIN’s NanoBio Executive Roundtable series for specific strengths across the state; and linking the DDCOI with technology transfer offices.
Coordinated activities and funding for 10 Regional Exchange Groups
Charlotte – Bioethics Resource Network; Charlotte Research Institute Life Sciences Lecture Series
East – Science at Starlight; Clinical Trials meetings of the Biopharmaceutical Development Regional Exchange Group
Southeast– Biopharmaceutical Development
Triad – Entrepreneur Action Team; Triad Biotech Alliance; Life Science Entrepreneurs Roundtable; Triad Drug Discovery Discussion Group
Research Triangle – American Scientist Pizza Lunch
Held the bi-annual Science in the Mountains event in Western North Carolina, attended by 145 scientists from the region and beyond.
Organized the first AgBiotech Symposium, which drew 150 leaders in agriculture, biotechnology and policy to the day long event.
Established a system to share market research reports with external clients at regional offices.
Coordinated and supported a number of events, from Regional Exchange Groups to full conferences, on the research, business and education of biotechnology.
Connect Bioscience Industrial Development, Regional Executive Directors and local economic development organizations to work together to recruit and expand life-science companies, including through national and international mission trips.
Researched regional assets and developed targeted marketing lists for support regional development and communications efforts.
In FY 2011, awarded two Regional Development Grants totaling $100,000 and two Grantsmanship Training Grants totaling $8,000 to help North Carolina applicants become more successful in competing for external funding.

Strategic Direction

National and International Competitiveness

Recruitment

With the Department of Commerce and regional partnerships, targeted life-science and biotechnology companies through recruitment trips and attendance at domestic and international conferences (Biomanufacturing Summit, 2010, 2011, BioProcess International Conference 2010 and BIO 2010 and 2011).
Through partnership with the Department of Commerce, reached out to target companies in California and Massachusetts as part of state visits.

Expanded European presence and lead/prospect development capabilities in partnership with economic development groups and Antaeus Consulting.
Landed expansion/recruitment projects for life science jobs and investment for an announced 2,118 jobs and $871M of investment, including $151 in capital investment and 300 jobs at eight companies in agribusiness.

Companies include Bayer Crop Science, BD Biosciences, Biogen Idec, Chimerix, Greiner Bio-One, Heat Biologics, Intrexon, L1 Agrosciences, LabCorp, Medicago, Merck, Ngate, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, Nypro, Pioneer, Sequenom, Syngenta, Talecris (Grifols), Thermo Fisher Sci, United Therapeutics and West Pharma.

Met with international delegationsto discuss North Carolina’s assets.

Economic Development

Met with regional companies with international parent companies or unique strategic alliances to help identify potential company recruitment leads.
Supported regional and local economic developers by providing them with biotechnology economic development support and kept them informed about related activity.
Promotedinternational competitiveness development of Global Innovation Network. Current countries consist of U.S., Spain and Poland.
Published “Bridging the Gaps” report that recommended strategies to surmount the funding and leadership challenges facing NC-based life science companies.

Marketing

Organized the North Carolina pavilion at BIO, recruiting 84 sponsors and $285,000 in 2010 and 91 sponsors and $300,000 in 2011.
Attend numerous conferences to market statewide and region-specific assets, including shows targeted to ag biotech.
Launched redesigned ncbiotech.org website, increasing pages per visit and decreasing the rate of visitors leaving.
Created system to track life science attraction and expansion opportunities, which includes 1,400 contacts, 30 leads, 24 prospects and 22 projects.
Helped the COIs leverage their business development efforts through sponsorship of two events.

Strategic Tool

Partnership Development and Coordination

Strategic Partnerships

Initiated an annual February partnering event in FY2010. Attracted 51 companies to the FY2011 event, including GSK, Pfizer, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Biogen Idec; 115 partnering meetings were held as part of the FY2011 event.
To support the Centers of Innovation, developed on-going strategic partnerships with NCSU’s Center of Innovation Management Studies (CIMS) for open innovation and Southeast TechInventures (STI) for business services.
Sought new strategic relationships – both public and private - that aided in the creation of strong COI consortia and boards as well as relationships that were leveraged to assist efforts of individual COIs.

Subject Matter Experts

Identified subject matter experts and compiled lists or reports of researchers and companies to share with clients looking for partners in North Carolina.

Building Relationships

Continued outreach and connection to key economic development partners including NC Dept of Commerce, Regional Economic Development Partnerships, local and private economic development groups, and more to support marketing North Carolina as a world leader in biotechnology.

Continue to nurture working relationships with regional economic development organizations including them on Committees and Teams focused on biotechnology development and keep them informed about biotechnology-related activity.
Facilitate conversations between North Carolina companies and their local governments in order to resolve site, utility or other issues.

Strategic Tool

Prime Voice

Engaged board members, advisory committee members and other statewide leaders in promoting North Carolina and the potential and benefits of emerging biotech sectors to the media and other appropriate audiences.
Presented the results of the 2010 Battelle economic impact study at meetings with the General Assembly. Developed messaging based on numerical outcomes and success stories to support annual appropriation in tough funding environment.

Crafted a set of opinion pieces that ran statewide to reinforce public support for biotechnology industry growth.
Recorded hundreds of mentions of the Biotechnology Center and its programs in media outlets around the world. Significant stories include Business North Carolina coverage of AgBiotech and the Centers of Innovation, BIO show daily stories about North Carolina companies, andGEN coverage of the state’s biotechnology industry.
Encouraged COIs to communicate their accomplishments through articles, brochures and annual reports.
Organized “Looking Beyond Row Crops: What’s next for AgBiotech” panel session at BIO 2011.
Redesigned website and main Center brochure to better reflect our statewide job creation message. Produced a range of electronic and print collateral in support.
Welcomed 200,000 unique visitors annually to our Web site, with nearly 400,000 total visits.
With help from the library, targeted thousands of contacts for networking and other events.
Welcomed 57,000 visitors to the Hamner Conference Center since October 2009.
With a crowd of more than 300, dedicated the James B. Hunt Jr. Leadership Annex to the original Biotech Center headquarters.

Funded 30 conferences with $67,147 in Biotechnology Event Sponsorships and fivenational and international meetings with $40,815.
To extend knowledge of biotechnology and the Center, and to engage partners statewide, a number of staff served on boards, committees and as speakers for external groups.

Strategic Tool

Center Funding

Ensure funds received from the State of North Carolina or other external sources are managed responsibly and in compliance with state and federal laws and guidelines. Received clean audits for fiscal years 2010 and 2011.
Hired a Grant Submissions Manager to lead Center efforts to identify sources of external funding and manage applications for those funds.

Submitted ten requests for external funding. So far, the following three have been awarded.
$200,000 from Biogen Idec (for year 2 of Transformational Grant in Science for the Hunt Leadership Annex)
$15,000 from Biogen Idec for Education and Training’s lab supplies for teachers program; and
$300,000 from Golden LEAF Foundation (for the BioMoto Challenge project originating from Margie Benbow in the Greater Charlotte Office).

For AgBiotech efforts, obtained funding from 10 different partners for group events and for the Hunt Leadership Annex. Total raised was $838,550, including $350,000 from Golden LEAF for the North Carolina Statewide Agricultural Biotechnology Value Added, Specialty, and Niche Market Initiative.
Worked with partners in academia and industry to fund initiatives including the Plant Molecular Biology Consortium, teacher supply programs (funding by Biogen Idec) and undergraduate research fellowships (funding by Cotton Incorporated).
Continued Capital Campaign to fund building addition. Building committee was chaired by GlaxoSmithKline executive Robert A. Ingram and former Gov. Jim Martin.
Formed an internal team to look at potential cost savings by making routine processes more efficient:
Moved from Cvent to SignUp4 for meeting planning, saving the Center $10,000 over two years.
Use electronic invitations for events, in lieu of postcards, saving $500 to $1,000 per event.
Reduced paper needed for four internal processes.
Preparedinternally required paperwork on our retirement plan,saving $5000.
Changed external auditors saving $50,000

Strategic Tool