MUSC professor launches biotechnology company in Charleston

Columbia, SC – A pharmaceutical R&D company has launched in Charleston from an MUSC faculty member’s research, the S.C. Department of Commerce and SC Bio announced today.

The company, Neurological Testing Services (NTS), founded on the research of Dr. Mark Kindy of MUSC, investigates pharmaceutical compounds in models associated with neurodegenerative diseases that include Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, stroke and epilepsy.

“This was a logical location for NTS,” Kindy said. “South Carolina’s established programs for neurodegenerative diseases, the support from MUSC, the state’s ability to move research to the marketplace, and Charleston’s growing entrepreneurial spirit made it an easy choice.”

Kindy, who joined the MUSC faculty in 2002 as a professor, is director of the Neuroscience Institute, associate director at the Center on Aging, and is the associate director of the SC Spinal Cord Injury Center.

“We recruited Dr. Kindy to the Medical University of South Carolina because of his internationally recognized research capabilities and his entrepreneurial spirit. His company will support the ever expanding base of life science companies in South Carolina,” said Dr. Ken Roozen, executive director of MUSC Foundation for Research Development.

Kindy is internationally renowned for his research on the role of signaling mechanisms in injuries that decrease blood flow and for the role of the RAGE receptor in amyloid diseases such as Alzheimer’s. He has published more than 100 articles and has been a member of the editorial board of several scientific journals including the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Neuroscience Research Communications.

“Clearly biotechnology is going to be an emerging growth industry in the years ahead and getting South Carolina ahead of the curve on that front is a central part of our economic development efforts,” said Governor Mark Sanford. “Ultimately, though, the key to expanding in this and frankly every other industry is our underlying business climate. That’s why we’re going to continue to push for pro-business reforms like income tax relief that will stimulate our economy and bring new jobs and new capital investment with it.”

“Our research prowess is intensifying,” said Commerce Secretary Bob Faith. “Dr. Kindy and others who do cutting-edge R&D fuel our state’s growing strength in life sciences. Their expertise will lead to the development of more and more South Carolina companies that use applied technology to build a business, create knowledge-based jobs, and have a tremendous effect on our economy. When projects like this one succeed, the ripple effect, in the form of a higher standard of living, can truly be felt throughout the state.”

Karl Kelly, CEO of SC Bio, agrees: “Dr. Kindy’s research and expertise are of great value to South Carolinians. Mark represents a novel breed of entrepreneurial researcher that understands commercialization and the process of taking new concepts into the market. The work of NTS adds value to better understanding diseases like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, stroke and epilepsy.”

SC Bio provides consulting assistance to NTS.

The NTS announcement follows the recent agreement of SC Bio with Capsugel, a division of Pfizer, to lease space in SC Bio’s Greenwood incubator facility. SC Bio is currently working with more than 15 companies across South Carolina, and the Greenwood incubator is now at 90% capacity.

SC Bio (The South Carolina Biotechnology Incubation Program) is a public/private not-for-profit organization composed of industry, university and private companies collaborating to develop new life science companies in South Carolina. SC Bio is a catalyst that aids in commercialization supporting financial growth, process development, and marketing for emerging life science companies.

SC Bio is creating broad-based research, financing and corporate development support for emerging and existing life science companies. We are striving to produce a velocity of new product development unmatched in the United States.

Contact: Ashley Hannah
Mgr. of Communications & Marketing Services, SC Bio
Phone: 864.953.3980
Fax: 864.953.3984
Email: [email protected]