BioFlorida Celebration of Biotechnology marks decade of success

 

The latest innovations in biotechnology were on display for the over 500 people, including this youngster, who joined in the annual celebration.

ALACHUA – Thursday marked the 10th Annual BioFlorida Celebration of Biotechnology. The high tech event took place May 9, at RTI Biologics in Alachua’s Progress Corporate Park on U.S. Highway 441.

Once visitors entered the huge tented area, they were face-to-face with the latest innovations in biotechnology. Over 500 people passed between the rows of over 70 scientific vendors displaying their products and services.

Visitors to the high-tech celebration could also hop aboard a bus for a tour of the research park, which houses biotechnology companies and UF’s Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator and its resident companies, which include Pasteuria Science, AxoGen, Banyan Biomarkers and Applied Food Technologies, among others.

The Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator was recently selected as the 2013 Incubator of the Year by the National Business Incubation Association, out of a field of 7,000 contenders worldwide. The Incubator provides lab space, greenhouses and fermentation facilities to its member companies.

Also this year, Jim Talton, CEO of Nanotherapeutics, which is located in the park, spoke about his company which recently was awarded a U.S. Department of Defense contract in an amount up to $360 million to develop medical countermeasures, including the development and manufacture of drugs and vaccines to combat bioterrorism.

Nearly 1,200 people now work in Progress Corporate Park, and of the more than 30 businesses located there, two-thirds are bioscience or technology companies.

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