Accomplishments

  • Providing about $16 million in financial assistance to 92 early stage biotechnology companies, helping those companies attract more than $1.2 billion in funding from other sources.
  • Working to recruit, retain and expand biotechnology companies including
  • Biogen Idec, Diosynth RTP, Merck and Co. and Novozymes, collectively responsible for thousands of high-paying jobs.
  • Investing more than $76 million in North Carolina universities to recruit 50 outstanding faculty members, purchase multi-user research equipment, and sponsor more than 450 research projects. For every $1 invested in research projects by the Biotechnology Center, the universities have gained about $14 in federal grants.
  • Sponsoring summer workshops on biotechnology for more than 1,250 teachers in North Carolina.  These teachers have taught lessons and labs to hundreds of thousands of students.
  • Tripling enrollment in the biosciences at the state's six historically minority universities by granting $8 million in special appropriations to improve the institutions' biotechnology programs.
  • At Gov. Mike Easley’s request, leading the development of the state’s biotechnology strategic plan: New Jobs Across North Carolina: A Strategic Plan for Growing the Economy Statewide through Biotechnology.