Florida research institutes are power players in biotech

Scripps Research Institute
Jupiter

[Photo: Tom Arban]

Eight years after former Gov. Jeb Bush lured La Jolla, Calif.-based Scripps Research Institute to Florida, Scripps Florida has hired 445 employees, filed 107 patents, spun off five biotech companies, landed $220 million in federal grants and made significant discoveries that could lead to treatments for Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, diabetes and Charcot-Marie-Tooth, a rare genetic disease that affects the peripheral nervous system.

Scripps and Tenet Florida are collaborating on an academic medical center on county-owned land in Palm Beach Gardens. The 80-bed acute care hospital will offer specialized medical/surgical services in orthopedics, oncology, senior care and digestive diseases and provide residency and internship opportunities for medical students enrolled at the new FAU med school.

With the opening of a medical school at Florida Atlantic University, Scripps and FAU are now offering a joint M.D./Ph.D. degree.