Venture capitalists at the BIO convention had some interesting things to say at BIO 2007 about Florida's role as an emerging hub for biotech research. Camille Samuels, managing director of Versant Ventures, for example, said that it would be easier for Scripps, Torrey-Pines and the Burnham Institute to spin off bankable start-ups than universities. But Michael Lytton, general partner of Oxford BioScience partners in Boston, says that Florida doesn't have the talent at established biotech companies that the emerging companies will need to grow with. In my meeting with Russell Allen, president of BioFlorida, he made it clear that the state sees a lot of opportunity in fostering the growth of the spin-off drug developers. The state does have a lot of research talent at its local universities, and that should go a long way to filling the ranks of any new companies that emerge.
- for more, read this Palm Beach Post report