Area biotech path could lie through Richmond

Though Robert T. Skunda considers Virginia only middle of the pack compared with other states’ biotech programs, the Virginia BioTechnology Research Park president hopes the state’s biotech industry will grow stronger, including the improvement of regional collaboration.

Effective collaboration is among numerous ingredients that could help the industry thrive in the coming decades. Commitment from universities to advance biotechnology is also key, experts contend, in addition to securing stable funding streams.

As both Richmond and Charlottesville are positioned to continue developments in the biotech industry, Skunda says, solid ties between the cities could advance the interests of both.

“It really helps, I think, to just strengthen your appeal and your brand, the more critical mass that you can point to,” he said. “If we were to develop a strategy … to aggregate, if you will, and promote the kind of investment opportunities that we have collectively between the two areas, it might bring more attention and it might bring more interest from investors who would say there’s a lot more potential … than in one or the other community on its own.”

Richmond and Charlottesville are among the state’s major biotechnology hubs, along with Blacksburg and Northern Virginia.

The Virginia BioTechnology Research Park in downtown Richmond boasts more than 1.1 million square feet of research and office space, housing life science organizations, research institutes and state and federal laboratories.

The park employs more than 2,000 scientists, engineers and researchers. It also houses more than a dozen early and mid-stage ventures, and multinational companies.

Closer to home, signs of momentum are growing more obvious.

For example, in March, officials announced construction plans for the CityCampus Biotechnology Center in Charlottesville, and intend to take over the former Coca-Cola bottling plant. Indoor Biotechnologies, which researches products to fight allergies and asthma, is expected to be the center’s primary tenant.

CityCampus LLC President Martin D. Chapman has said the center will be able to foster new companies and provide “a way to help existing companies expand their space and to recruit other biotechnology-related companies from elsewhere in the state to Charlottesville.”

As the bioscience industry is growing throughout the state, Mark A. Herzog, the Virginia Biotechnology Association’s executive director, speculates that regions with a “high-level commitment from local officials, universities and key business leaders to provide as welcoming an environment for startups as possible will be the most successful.”

“Charlottesville certainly is demonstrating that culture right now,” Herzog said. “The Blacksburg and Richmond regions are also very strong, enjoying the benefits of past investments, such as the technology parks in those two areas.”

The University of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University medical schools are in many ways the “research engines” that make Charlottesville and Richmond well-suited for biotechnology enterprises.

With the biotech park in Richmond dating back to the mid-1990s, close ties with Charlottesville make good sense, considering in part the proximity, Skunda said, and a bond could improve the strength of biotechnology in both areas.

“Together we can kind of present ourselves almost like some other regions of the country,” Skunda said, drawing a comparison with a powerhouse biotechnology presence along Interstate 270 in Maryland.