SCRA MUSC Innovation Center, Charleston, Welcomes Fifth New Tenant
July 14, 2010
SCRA, a global leader in applied research and commercialization, announces today that Iverson Genetic Diagnostics, Inc., (Iverson Genetics) is the fifth and latest tenant to move into the SCRA MUSC Innovation Center, Charleston, at 645 Meeting Street since the facility opened in December, 2009.
Iverson Genetics, an SC Launch company, is helping lead the way into the new era of personalized medicine. The company offers advanced genetic testing to healthcare providers to promote early disease detection and to help physicians achieve optimal dosing of critical medications.
Iverson Genetics is committed to providing healthcare providers with state-of-the-art diagnostics that maintain or improve quality of life, said Dean Sproles, Iverson Genetics’ CEO. With our commitment to quality, affordability, and rapid turnaround of test results, the Innovation Center and biotechnology sector in Charleston is a natural fit for Iverson Genetics as we build our staffing with highly educated life sciences professionals and expand our service offerings in both the United States and Canada.
According to Iverson Genetics, the Charleston Iverson Laboratory at the SCRA MUSC Innovation Center will provide genetic testing with 24-hour turnaround capabilities and become the hub of nationwide Clopidogrel (Plavix™) genetic testing, as well as a support laboratory for all Iverson diagnostic panels.
Plavix™ is prescribed by physicians to lower the risk of adverse clotting, especially in those with implanted stents, thereby reducing the risk of cardiovascular events.
The establishment of its Charleston lab will allow Iverson Genetics to further develop and expand its genetic diagnostic products and better serve the healthcare market. The Iverson Genetics lab at the SCRA MUSC Innovation Center is a registered CLIA laboratory (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments).
We are proud that Iverson Genetics is establishing their national headquarters at the SCRA MUSC Innovation Center, said Bill Mahoney, SCRA CEO. In concert with the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), our academic partner in Charleston to support knowledge economy development in Charleston and throughout SC, Iverson is a prime example of how effective public-private partnerships are achieving outstanding knowledge economy development results in SC today.
SC Launch, along with our partners across the state, is pleased to welcome Iverson to the SCRA MUSC Innovation Center, said Dave McNamara, SC Launch Executive Director. Iverson further strengthens the growing bio-med industry in South Carolina.
The SCRA MUSC Charleston Innovation Center, a fully-renovated facility, attracts and supports start-up companies with wet lab and equipment space, primarily in concert with entrepreneurs commercializing MUSC research. With this collaboration, SCRA is fulfilling legislative mandates identified in the Innovation Centers Act focused on the commercialization of new knowledge-based health care discoveries.
Four start-up companies, all created from technology formed at MUSC, are already headquartered in the new SCRA MUSC Innovation Center: Immunologix, Microbial Fuel Cell Technologies, Neurological Testing Services and Vortex Biotechnology Corporation.
Since the start of the SC Launch Program four years ago, SC Launch has assisted, helped form and/or land more than 230 knowledge-based entities in South Carolina, providing both funding and services to more than 178. The Program has attracted more than $104 million in add-on, private equity investment in South Carolina companies. SC Launch is one of over 100 programs in SCRA’s overall operations, which have made a cumulative economic contribution of more than $13.7B to South Carolina since 1983.
