Biotech firms test state for potential

Max Heller speaks at the Palmetto Biotech Initiative Thursday at the Palmetto Expo Center. Staff/Bart Boatwright e-mail this story to a friend

Chatterjee would not identify the company, but said it intends to invest $150 million for the plant's first phase.

"They've made the decision to go ahead and build the facility," he said. "And now they have basically the next three months to choose a site."

Chatterjee, the chief operating officer of Pharmatech Validation Services Inc., a California company that supports the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, was one of the businessmen in Greenville Thursday for the start of the second annual Palmetto Biotechnology Conference.

The conference, first held in Charleston last year, is designed to promote development of the industry in South Carolina. It continues today at the Palmetto Expo Center.

Chatterjee said South Carolina has an attractive "quality of life."

"The cost of living is not too high," he said. "The weather seems to be pretty good."

Plus, he noted, the state Legislature has recently adopted the Life Sciences Act, financial incentives for biotech and pharmaceutical companies that invest in the state.

The main speaker at the conference Thursday was Patrick Kelly, vice president for state relations for the Biotechnology Industry Organization, a trade association based in Washington. He reviewed key industry issues such as drug pricing, cloning and efforts to combat bioterrorism.

Kelly said the Life Sciences Act is "big news" in the industry, "and it's not to be overlooked." The new law provides financial incentives to pharmaceutical or biotech companies investing at least $100 million and creating at least 200 high-paying jobs.

Scheduled to speak at the conference today is Jim Self, a South Carolina native who is senior director of business development for Merck & Co., a New Jersey-based pharmaceutical company with sales of $2.3 billion last year.

Also scheduled to speak is Johannes Roebers, senior director of engineering for Biogen Idec Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based biotech company with sales of $680 million in 2003.

Also, Damien Perriman, director of business development for the Queensland Government Trade and Investment Office, Australia, is scheduled to talk about his government's biotech-recruiting strategy and make recommendations for South Carolina.

Gov. Mark Sanford had been scheduled to speak, but he won't be attending after all, said his spokesman Will Folks.