News
Event: Bioscience Lab Grand Opening and Business Accelerator Open House, 4-7 p.m. Nov. 9; Portland State Business Accelerator, Corner of Southwest Corbett Avenue and Southwest Meade Street, Portland State University. Directions: www.psba.pdx.edu/drivingdirections
(Portland, Ore.) October 28, 2010 – The Portland State Business Accelerator (PSBA) is proud to announce the opening of new bio-lab space to support startup companies in Oregon’s growing bioscience industry.
The $1.5 million bioscience facility will provide 2,700-square-feet of specialized lab space for six promising bioscience companies that are developing new drugs, medical devices, and other biological and chemical innovations. Labs with equipment such as fume hoods and autoclave sterilizers are expensive and rare in Portland, a major obstacle for startup companies that need them for research.
“The new labs will make it possible for promising startup bioscience companies to grow jobs and create new products for Oregon and the world,” said Portland State University (PSU) President Wim Wiewel.
Since it started six years ago, the PSBA has helped about 40 client companies in target industries such as biotech/bioscience, green technology, and information technology by providing business resources, hands-on development work, University support, and office and lab space. The PSBA is host to at least one company spun out from research at each Oregon research university. This year, about 60 percent of venture capital investment in the Portland area has gone to companies housed at the Business Accelerator.
The new bio-labs were completed in partnership with the Portland Development Commission (PDC) and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), with support from the Oregon Bioscience Association and the PSU Foundation. Five bioscience companies have agreed to lease the space: DesignMedix; Floragenex, Inc.; HydraDx, Inc.; Home Dialysis Plus; and Lux Bio Group.
“Bio-labs are just essential to do any kind of biotech or chemistry work, and there aren’t very many of them in Portland,” said Lynn Stevenson, CEO of DesignMedix, a company that is developing new drugs to overcome drug resistance to diseases such as malaria. The company, which plans to move into its new lab space in December, spun out of the research of PSU chemistry Professor David Peyton.
Andrew Goldstein, vice president for product development at HydraDx, moved into a 165-square-foot lab last weekend to develop a new saliva-based dehydration test. The test would help medical professionals make rapid treatment decisions without waiting for lab results and could be designed and manufactured in Oregon.
“There’s a lot of interesting synergy here, which all comes down to product development in a lab,” Goldstein said. “If this all were successful, it would provide business for existing companies in Oregon as well as the academic institutions doing clinical trails.”
Oregon is home to more than 600 bioscience companies and research institutions that fuel the state’s economy through research and development of medical devices, medical diagnostics, human and animal therapeutics, pharmaceuticals, reagents, research services, bio-agriculture, bio-fuels, and medical software.
“As Oregon continues its steady growth in the biotechnology and life science industries, these wet labs are essential to recruiting companies and growing those who are anchored here,” said Dennis McNannay, executive director of the Oregon Bioscience Association. “Our state’s bioscience economic footprint grew by an average of 6 percent over the past two years, making these science clusters a recession-proof industry in Oregon. Expanding our research and development capabilities through these wet labs showcases these dynamic, public-private partnerships.”
About Portland State University
Portland State University (PSU) serves as a center of opportunity for more than 29,000 undergraduate and graduate students. Located in Portland, Oregon, one of the nation’s most livable cities, the University’s innovative approach to education combines academic rigor in the classroom with field-based experiences through internships and classroom projects with community partners. The University’s 49-acre downtown campus exhibits Portland State’s commitment to sustainability with green buildings, while many of the 125 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees incorporate sustainability into the curriculum. PSU’s motto, “Let Knowledge Serve the City,” inspires the teaching and research of an accomplished faculty whose work and students span the globe
