Canadian Biotechnology News

Biotech relationship forged with North Carolina
GuelphMercury.com – News – Biotech relationship forged with North Carolina

December 09, 2010, Rob O’Flanagan, Mercury staff

GUELPH — Agricultural technology insiders in Guelph have begun what they hope is a lasting and economically beneficial relationship with counterparts in the state of North Carolina.

For the past 30 or so years, the southern state’s biotech sector has grown to become America’s third largest behind California and Massachusetts. A biotechnology leader from North Carolina shared insights into how the state generated a thriving and innovative biotech sector with local officials Thursday morning during a Guelph Chamber of Commerce Pulse on Innovation breakfast.

Gwyn Riddick, vice-president of agricultural biotechnology at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, said he grew up on a farm at the tail end of the horse and plow era of agriculture. Those days are long gone, he said, and biotechnology — a broad term that includes the genetic engineering of living things in the production of drugs, synthetic hormones and bulk foodstuffs — is the way of the future.

Riddick said the “three secrets” of a thriving biotech sector are: collaboration at all levels of the sector; consistent and generous support of science and research related to the field; and support for entrepreneurs keen on commercializing life science innovations.

The Guelph area is a leading centre for biotechnology in Canada, and the sector here shares much in common with the one in North Carolina.

Gord Surgeoner is president of Ontario Agri-Food Technologies, a non-profit organization dedicated to utilizing technology to generate wealth and sustainability for the agricultural and food industries of Ontario. He said North Carolinian biotech insiders have reached out to local companies and experts in an effort to forge opportunities that are “a benefit to both parties.”

“May this be the start of a wonderful relationship,” he said following Riddick’s address.

The biotech sectors in California and Massachusetts are primarily focused on the medical field, Surgeoner said in an interview. But like the Guelph/Kitchener-Waterloo area, North Carolina’s biotech sector has an industrial and agricultural focus, making it a logical partner in the potential development of new products.

“At the end of the day, it’s about generating economic activities,” Surgeoner said of the relationship.

Riddick said there was no such thing as a biotech sector in North Carolina 30 years ago, and that developing one took “intentional investment and support” on the part of government, business and all levels of the education system.

The non-profit North Carolina Biotechnology Center has awarded about $16 million to about 90 companies, funds that have been used to raise more than $1 billion in subsequent funding from other sources. The state of North Carolina invested roughly $100 million in biotech initiatives last year — $1 billion over the past decade.

Biotechnology, Riddick said, is becoming more prevalent in agriculture, and will become increasingly influential as the world changes. Today’s farmers are under mounting pressures from insects, disease, climate and rising costs of production, he said. Within 30 years the global population is expected to reach nine billion people.

“Farmers must meet the growing demand with a shrinking resource base,” he said. At the same time, they are obligated to take steps to protect the environment — the air we breathe and the water we drink. The scenario is “near impossible” for producers, he said. Biotechnology can offer solutions.

The first wave of biotechnology impacts on agriculture came in the form of genetically modified organisms, he said. But new developments are just now beginning to emerge, particularly in the areas of diagnostics, therapeutics and value-added products. These will shape the future of biotechnology, he indicated.

“Biotech is going to help us all move into a new agricultural economy,” he said.

Agriculture, he added, “should always be viewed as a national defence industry,” and keeping it secure and sustainable is vital to the safety and well-being of citizens. In the future, what he referred to as bioterrorism will likely be directed at food supplies, and efforts must be made to combat it.

With the permission of Rob O’Flanagan, Mercury Mercury
roflanagan@guelphmercury.com
http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/article/734309