Nanobiotech - a niche for the Triad?

By MATT  EVANS

Nanobiotech The word itself sounds like an exercise in hype-induced economic development euphoria. But some in the Triad are hoping that the nanotechnology industrial cluster envisioned by area academics and entrepreneurs cannot only take root here, but can also serve to boost the region's more mature but stilt relatively small biotechnology industry. "There's synergy between the two," said Richard Czerw, president of Yadkinville-based NanoTech Labs. "We're basically a materials company, and a lot of the challenges (biotech companies) have, have to do with materials. That's why we're trying to move into the biomaterials area." Nanotechnology is not a new science; it simply refers to the study and manipulation of particles on the scale of a nanometer, or one-billionth of a meter. A strand of human hair, by comparison, is about 80,000 nanometers wide. However, recent advances in the science and nanotech's broad potential application in industries from health care to textiles to energy have generated excitement in investors, scientists and economic developers about the potential impact nanotech could have on local economics. Biotechnology, which involves the use of molecular, cellular or genetic processes most often in health care products such as pharmaceuticals. has been a focus of attention for much longer.

The Triad's biotech cluster is anchored by a few companies such as Targacept in Winston-Salem and TransTech Pharma in High Point. Both have succeeded in attracting millions in venture capital to support their drug discovery efforts.

There are also numerous smaller startups such as Piedmont Pharmaceuticals of Greensboro that, while seeing some successes on the research front (see related article, page 2), have yet to turn into significant employers.

Tiny segment

The Triad's nanotechnology industry is even smaller, though it already includes several key building blocks that could give it an edge over other communities that would also like to attract and develop a nanotech sector.

There are advanced nanotechnology research programs at Wake Forest University and N.C. A&T State University. Forsyth Technical Community College has a nanotech workforce training program. Then there arc private companies such as NanoTech Labs as well as QuarTek Corp. of High Point, which is trying to organize a nanotech "accelerator" to help attract and spin off other nanotech startups. Jag Sankar, director of A&T's Center for Advanced Materials and Smart Structures, said biotech companies are increasingly seeking nanotech solutions to the challenges they face. For example, Sankar said viruses have a protective layer of proteins that form, in effect, a wall that traditional medicines can't get through.

 "So how will you penetrate this wall?" Sankar said. "If the medicine is at the nano level it can diffuse through this layer much faster. If the particle is of a bigger size, it doesn't diffuse through."

There are many such intersections of biotechnology and nanotechnology, but actual instances of collaborations in the Triad are still rare.

Czerw, at NanoTech Labs, said his company is involved in projects with Wake Forest's Institute for Regenerative Medicine, which is researching methods of growing replacement organs using a patient's own tissues.

He declined to discuss the details of those specific projects, but said nanotechnology is used to improve the "scaffolds," or the physical structures on which the regenerating organ grows in the body.

"The scaffold is generally macroscopic in scale, but we can add nanoparticles or nanomaterials to the scaffolding to increase its functionality," Czerw said, which is important because the scaffolding has to be able to perform the functions of that particular organ until the new organ has developed.

Building a cluster

Tengion, a biotech firm with an office in Winston-Salem involved in commercializing some of the technology coming out of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine, uses "elements of nanotechnology" in its scaffolds, according to Gary Sender the company's spokesman and chief financial officer at its headquarters in Pennsylvania.

He said Tengion would certainly benefit if the Triad succeeds in building or attracting leading-edge nanotech companies.

"It would mean more opportunities for scientist-to-scientist interactions," Sender said. "Local nanotech firms would he able to get to know our needs and might lake specific interest in our technology, which would certainly be helpful to us."

A strong nanotech cluster could also generate new activity, either by attracting biotechs in need of nanotech expertise to the area or sparking new ideas among existing firms.

Don deBethizy, CEO of Targacept, said his company is not currently contemplating nanotechnology as a way to administer the drugs it is developing, but if he had the opportunity to interact with more nanotech firms, he might get inspired.

"It's stimulating, that's what happens when you're in close proximity," deBethizy said. "When you have a fledgling industry evolving, you find synergies, and when you're in close proximity you have more opportunities to find those synergies."

The effort is on

Will the Triad actually succeed in building a nanotech cluster? It won't be for lack of interest. For example, the Piedmont Triad Entrepreneurial Network recently organized the N.C. Nanotechnology Conference in High Point, which drew scientists, investors and entrepreneurs from across the region.

High Point's QuarTek Corp. used the occasion to formally introduce its idea for a "nanoaccelerator," which would support nanotech startups with shared intellectual and physical resources in return for an equity stake.

QuarTek CEO Reyad Sawafta said he hopes to attract and move three to five companies per year through the accelerator.

Both A&T and Wake Forest officials emphasize that they too offer support, services and technology to nanotech startups with the goal of encouraging an entrepreneurial culture to complement their scientific research.

David Carroll, director of Wake Forest's Center for Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials, said he's hopeful that the various efforts planned or underway to support the Triad's nanotechnology industry will complement each other rather than replicate resources.

If nanotech does indeed come to thrive in the Triad, Carroll said, biotech will also benefit as could the local economy. That's because significant scientific advances may result.

"This is the engineering of the 21st century. You have to be doing this," Carroll said. "To grow a new industry, you have to be competitive in the marketplace, and the marketplace right now demands materials, drugs, all these different things built on a nanoscale."