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SC BIO of Greenwood Named Winner Of S.C. Chamber 2006 Palmetto Vision Award

Submitted by: John Warner on Nov 07, 2006 at 2:26 am Tagged with: Health Sciences Source:

Columbia, SC — The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce on Nov. 2 presented its 2006 Palmetto Vision Award to SC BIO, a life science incubator program based in Greenwood. Representatives from SC BIO accepted the award during the South Carolina Chamber’s Annual Summit at the Wild Dunes Resort on the Isle of Palms.

SC BIO’s mission is to expand the life science industry in the state by helping create new companies, expand biotechnology research, and strengthen the industry’s entrepreneurial climate. SC BIO is currently working with 10 companies, providing 18-24 months of consulting spanning early strategy development, key personnel hiring, seed financing, and product development. The program also has more than 15 new technologies under review.

“SC BIO is an example of what truly progressive public-private partnerships can accomplish,” said S. Hunter Howard Jr., president and chief executive officer of the South Carolina Chamber. “The program already has helped form several promising new enterprises in the Palmetto State, including companies developing important new diagnostic and treatment products for the medical industry.”

Newly formed South Carolina companies facilitated through SC BIO include: Selah Technologies, which is advancing an illuminating carbon dot technology used in diagnostics; CreatiVasc, which has developed a series of promising dialysis devices; ImmunoMod, which has identified potential diabetes compounds; and First String Research, which develops advanced wound-healing and anti-scarring compounds.

“SC BIO currently serves 11 research locations across South Carolina through periodic visits and review of new research disclosures,” said Kelly Karl, chief executive officer of SC BIO. “This is accomplished through a working partnership with the research foundations or the technology transfer entities at these sites. The research under consideration spans the range of life science sectors, from agricultural biotechnology to biopharmaceutical compounds.”

Headquartered in Greenwood, SC BIO recently contracted with SC Launch!, a collaborative program of the South Carolina Research Authority, to provide funding for personnel in Charleston and Columbia. The Columbia office is slated to open in December 2006.

The Palmetto Vision Award was established in 2004 to recognize initiatives that best exemplify public-private research partnerships that further knowledge-based development in South Carolina. Health Sciences South Carolina was the 2005 recipient, and Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research was the 2004 honoree.

The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce is the state’s largest statewide broad-based business and industry trade association representing more than 5,000 member companies and more than 600,000 member employees, with 89 percent of membership comprised of small businesses. As the unified voice for business and industry, the Chamber serves as a catalyst for increasing per capita income and enhancing the state’s global competitiveness in order to improve the quality of life for all South Carolinians.