Charter Medical's new Innovation Hub joins Innovation Quarter

Winston-Salem-based Charter Medical has opened its new Innovation Hub in downtown Winston-Salem’s Innovation Quarter.

The Innovation Hub features a state-of-the-art lab space where single-use studies for freezing, transportation, and protection will be performed to support the biopharma industry’s cold chain logistics process. Charter’s single-use engineering team continues to focus their decades of expertise on material development, performance, and analysis to support the development of critical therapies.

Charter Medical joins the Innovation Quarter’s growing roster of biotechnology companies focused on solutions in the regenerative medicine space. Located at One Technology Place, the Innovation Hub will serve as Charter’s downtown location. Charter’s company headquarters, located 10 miles away on West Point Boulevard, employs over 160 full-time workers.

One Technology Place is a 100,000 sq. ft. building outfitted with lab and office space designed for researching, developing and scaling the most innovative healthtech solutions.

“We are excited to expand Charter Medical’s footprint to downtown Winston-Salem to support our customers’ needs to accelerate the commercialization of advanced therapies for improving patient care,” said Jeff Robertson, Charter Medical President. “We look forward to expanding our services and capabilities to support our growing customer base and the thriving Innovation Quarter ecosystem of regenerative medicine. This location affords us the ability to recruit from the growing pool of talent and utilize the array of amenities that are curated for tenants of the innovation district.”

The opening of the Charter Medical Innovation Hub in the Innovation Quarter continues a steady line of companies in the regenerative medicine and cell therapy space that have been attracted to downtown Winston-Salem thanks to initiatives driven by the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) and the RegenMed Development Organization (ReMDO), which, together with Innovation Quarter, make up the RegenMed Hub.

“We are thrilled about Charter Medical’s expansion into Innovation Quarter, said Isaac Perry, Head of Biotech and Life Science Ecosystem Development for Innovation Quarter and Greater Winston-Salem, Inc. “They bring deep strategic expertise in emerging biotechnology and have the opportunity to play a critical role both in leading and supporting ecosystem growth and RegenMed Hub partners. Their investment into this district is affirming of Innovation Quarter’s value proposition, and we are so excited to have them grow with us.”

One of the fastest growing intersections of biotechnology innovation and business in the nation – the RegenMed Hub – can be found in downtown Winston-Salem where WFIRM, the world’s largest regenerative medicine research facility, anchors the south end of the Innovation Quarter district, which is focused on research, biomedical science education, and business.

"We're very pleased that Charter Medical has decided to build its lab in the Innovation Quarter," said Nancy Johnston, executive director of the Piedmont Triad regional office of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. "Charter Medical will be a great addition to the thriving regenerative medicine ecosystem here."

The Innovation Quarter brings together and draws upon the resources and talent available through the Innovation Quarter and includes regenerative medicine focused entities such as ReMDO and Charter Medical that are dedicated to advancing the field nationwide. A number of regenerative medicine start-ups and established companies already operate in the RegenMed Hub and the region, offering expansive resources for entrepreneurs and life science professionals.

Innovation Quarter is a mixed-use innovation district in downtown Winston-Salem. Anchored by Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Innovation Quarter is home to a community of more than 4,500 workers in 115 companies and four other institutions of higher learning where almost 2,000 degree-seeking students come to learn every day. In addition to more than 1,100 residential units, Innovation Quarter also features an urban park, publicly accessible greenway and free community events. It is a founding member of the Global Institute on Innovation Districts (GIID) and was named a “Best Practice in Creating Integrated Places” by GIID for its work in intentional placemaking.

Charter Medical specializes in designing and manufacturing standard and custom single-use technologies for the advanced therapy, bioprocessing, and blood management markets. For more than 30 years, Charter Medical—an ISO 13485/NSAI certified and FDA registered company—has been providing high-quality solutions that continue to help industry-leading biopharmaceutical companies bring advanced, life-saving therapies to market.