Torrey Pines already seeking to forge research partnerships

BYLINE: CHARLIE REED charlie.reed@scripps.com

Scientists from Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies have not yet arrived on the Treasure Coast, but they already have their mission here mapped out.

With $90 million worth of state, county and city incentives in tow, Torrey Pines is expected to jump-start the Treasure Coast economy by creating jobs and attracting other biotechnology companies to the area.

To do that, scientific breakthroughs are a must for Torrey Pines, which announced in September it wanted to expand to Port St. Lucie.

That's why Richard Houghten, president and founder of the nonprofit research outfit, is on an aggressive campaign to carve out partnerships with Florida Atlantic University, Scripps Research Institute and Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution.

FAU and Torrey Pines finalized an agreement last month allowing scientists and students to work together on research projects and to share equipment.

The collaboration will begin even before scientists from the La Jolla, Calif.-based firm get here this summer, said Houghten, who recently began leasing a home on the Treasure Coast to oversee the expansion.

A web of research partnerships and millions in scientific infrastructure already exist on the Treasure Coast. Working relationships between FAU, Harbor Branch, Indian River Community College, Smithsonian Marine Station, University of Florida and the USDA form the framework from which the Torrey Pines deal will grow.

"Everything is in place," said FAU President Frank Brogan, who has worked with local leaders and state legislators for four years to establish the partnerships and expand research efforts on the Treasure Coast.

They say this region is on its way to becoming known at the Research Coast -- a term some economic development officials and politicians already are using to market the area.

Scientists laud research partnerships because they generate more federal and state grants than individual efforts.

Federal grant powerhouses such as the National Institutes of Heath and the National Science Foundation consider the teamwork "more bang for their buck," Houghten said.

The goal for Torrey Pines -- like Scripps Florida, whose expansion to Palm Beach County also was funded with taxpayer dollars -- is to transition from a publicly financed start-up into a self-sustaining operation with a steady stream of income from grants, philanthropy and potential profits from commercial discoveries, Houghten said.

It takes up to 10 years and $1 billion to get a new drug to the market, with biotechnology companies like Torrey Pines and Scripps focusing on the later stages of development.

That's why academic research is so vital to biotech companies, said Peter Hodder, a chemist and director of Scripps' High Throughput Screening laboratory in Jupiter.

Academic research is not profitable like the commercial side of drug research, but still is invaluable to the process, explained Hodder, who worked for Merck & Co. Inc. before coming to Scripps in 2005.

Because academic research is not driven by the market, it's more broad-based and can "lead to discoveries that may not have come to light otherwise," said Hodder, who oversees Scripps' $10 million robotic screening system.