MUSC professor launches biotech company in Charleston
Mark Kindy, Ph.D., director of MUSC's Neuroscience Institute, launched the Neurological Testing Services (NTS) a pharmaceutical research and development company in Charleston.
South
Carolina Secretary of Commerce Bob Faith, second from left, congratulates
Dr. Mark Kindy, associate director of the MUSC Neuroscience Institute,
second from right, following the announcement of the launch of a pharmaceutical
research and development company based on Kindy's research. At left is
Karl Kelly, CEO of SC Bio, and at right is Dr. Ken Roozen, executive director
of the MUSC Foundation for Research Development.
The announcement was made Aug. 11 by the South Carolina Department of Commerce and The S.C. Biotechnology Incubation Program (SC Bio).
Kindy's research provided the foundation for the company, which investigates pharmaceutical compounds in models associated with neurodegenerative diseases including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, 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, is also associate director of the Center on Aging and associate director of the South Carolina 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,” said Ken Roozen, Ph.D., executive director of MUSC Foundation for Research Development. “His company will support the ever-expanding base of life science companies in South Carolina.”
Kindy received international renown 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 published more than 100 articles and was a member of the editorial board of several scientific journals, including the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Neuroscience Research Communications.
“Our research prowess is intensifying,” said S.C. Commerce Secretary Bob Faith. “Dr. Kindy and others who do cutting-edge R and D fuel our state’s growing strength in life sciences. Their expertise will lead to the development of 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.”
“Dr. Kindy’s research and expertise are of great value to South Carolinians,” said Karl Kelly, CEO of SC Bio. “Mark represents a novel breed of entrepreneurial researchers who understand 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 agreement of SC Bio with Capsugel, a division of Pfizer, to lease space in the Greenwood incubator facility. SC Bio is currently working with more than 15 companies across South Carolina, and the Greenwood incubator is now at 90 percent capacity.
SC Bio 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 aids in commercialization
supporting financial growth, process development, and marketing for emerging
life science companies. SC Bio creates broad-based research, financing
and corporate development support for emerging and existing life science
companies.
Friday, Aug. 13, 2004
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