NCBiotech News

Alamance Community College (ACC) received a $474,878 grant from the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education program to launch BioQuest, a project that will train students for careers in quality control and assurance.

A Raleigh-based biopharmaceutical company is starting its next chapter as a public company after raising $81.3 million in an initial public offering. Vogenx Inc. celebrated its Nasdaq debut with an Opening Bell ceremony in August after pricing its IPO at $13 per share, at the high end of its expected range.

More than a year into its statewide expansion, the Regenerative Medicine Engine in North Carolina is doubling down on preparing the state’s workforce for careers in one of the top emerging fields in science and medicine. The nonprofit economic development organization helped bring seven new regenerative medicine companies to North Carolina in 2025 and facilitated skills training for nearly 1,500 people.

The North Carolina Biotechnology Center awarded 141 grants and loans totaling $7.4 to universities, life sciences companies and nonprofit organizations in the recently ended fiscal year 2026 (July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2026). The awards, made from July 2025 through June 2026, will support life sciences research, technology commercialization and entrepreneurship throughout North Carolina.

Pace Life Sciences, a division of Pace, a science and technology company, has completed another successful U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspection of its Analytical Center of Excellence in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. Pace Life Sciences is a GMP analytical testing laboratory and full-service contract research, development and manufacturing organization (CDMO).

Britain-based Reckitt will invest up to a $600 million, multi-year transformation of its U.S. operations across two sites - one in North Carolina - to accelerate the long-term growth of its U.S. business. 

Investments will include relocation and integration of its commercial and R&D capabilities into a campus in New Jersey and significantly expanded plans for its largest over-the-counter (OTC) manufacturing facility in North Carolina.

With a planned opening in early 2027, work is moving ahead on the Biomanufacturing Education & Skills Training (BEST) Center of Eastern North Carolina, operated by Wilson Community College. The Center is funded by a $30 million investment from the N.C. General Assembly and a $13 million grant from the Golden LEAF Foundation to purchase state-of-the-art equipment.

Merakris Therapeutics, a clinical-stage Research Triangle Park regenerative biologic medicines company, has received a $2.2 million federal grant to advance commercialization of a diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) treatment.

Opportunity had plenty of doors to knock on at ConvergeSouth 2026, held Aug. 27-28 in downtown Winston-Salem’s Innovation Quarter. More than 500 enthusiastic entrepreneurs, investors and support organizations made sure the doors were wide open and the welcome mats out. Now in its 10th year, the multi-venue event was organized by Flywheel Foundation, a nonprofit supporting impact-driven entrepreneurship through ecosystem development, education and impact investment.

Digital healthcare firm Higgs Boson Health, a Durham-based portfolio company of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, has been acquired by Globus Medical. Higgs Boson Health's technology and staff will become part of Globus Medical's surgical intelligence team, connecting patient engagement, outcomes data and analytics.

As poet Maya Angelou famously said, “You can’t really know where you are going until you know where you have been.” That wisdom applies today to the planners and dreamers who are bringing a vibrant new identity to the iconic North Carolina landmark known as Research Triangle Park (RTP) 3.0. Soon a soul-searching RTP retrospective will be launched in book form as “Miracle Road, the Story of Research Triangle Park.”

Innatrix Inc., a Durham-based agricultural biotechnology company developing sustainable biological crop protection solutions, was awarded a $499,786 Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase IIB grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). The supplemental funding will support moving Innatrix’s lead peptide product, InnaLB, toward U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registration and market launch.

Cambrex’s newly expanded pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in High Point has passed three major regulatory hurdles, allowing it to begin commercial production. The company announced the successful completion of three pre-approval inspections of the facility by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Japan’s Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency and Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Private equity’s reputation for slashing costs and selling companies quickly doesn’t always hold true.

Case in point: QHP Capital. The Raleigh life sciences private equity firm goes by a different playbook, one that helps transform companies into long-term success stories.

Central Carolina Community College (CCCC) celebrated the opening this month of a facility that will prepare students for highly skilled jobs in biotechnology manufacturing. The newly renovated Biotechnology Building is part of the E. Eugene Moore Manufacturing and Biotech Solutions Center on CCCC’s Lee Main Campus in Sanford.