BioTech Expo inspires crowd at State College of Florida

LAKEWOOD RANCH -- A look into the future of the Manatee-Sarasota biotech industry inspired a crowd to queue for a half hour Thursday to access the area's signature science and technology event.

BioTech Expo, an event sponsored by the local chapter of BioFlorida, pulled in biotech professionals, students and researchers at State College of Florida's Medical Technology and Simulation Center to talk products, employment and bioscience education.

Several established companies in the field set up booths to show off equipment they expect area industry to need in the coming years, while five growing local firms trolled for investors in a Shark Tank-style format.

Designed to be pretty much everything to everyone in the Manatee-Sarasota biotech community, the expo shined a bright light on the resources the area has put into play. Those resources, said BioFlorida Sarasota-Manatee chapter business chair Michael Van Butsel, make the area one of those rare places where someone can get a full science and technology education and start a career without straying outside county lines.

"We're highlighting the fact that they're both here," Van Butsel said.

According to a study commissioned by the Bradenton Area Economic Development Corp., the life-sciences industry represents nearly 27,000 direct and indirect jobs in the Manatee-Sarasota area.

The expo is one of a number of biotech-related events taking place this week, which was designated by Manatee County as Health Innovation Week.

During the three-hour event, attendees learned about the newest industry technology, reviewed study abstracts written by local researchers, toured an advanced medical suite simulator and networked. The face-to-face contact was critical for many attendees, including Austin Seroka, a New College of Florida senior researching Gulf War illness at the Roskamp Institute. Seroka plans to pursue a Ph.D. in medical research.

Between New College and the Whitfield-area institute, he immersed himself in learning his field. At the expo to present one of more than a dozen study abstracts, he said he was excited to meet working, local biotech professionals.

"This is a good opportunity to talk to people I wouldn't have the resources to talk to otherwise," he said.

On the tech side of the equation, Thermo Fisher Scientific, a biotech lab equipment maker, carved out the biggest chunk of booth real estate to catch the eyes of potential medical, education and industry clients.

Cory Adams, a territory sales representative for the company, said he expects the company business to grow in Sarasota-Manatee.

Of particular interest to him and others at the event was the recent announcement by Lakewood Ranch master developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch that it will build a 4.2-million-square-foot biotech park inside the growing community.

"Any expansion in biotech and research we want to be involved in," he said.

The expo was also the place for at least one company to push a product in the early stages of development.

Tampa-based Transgenex Nanobiotech used the event to whip up interest in a new product to allow cancer researchers to grow three-dimensional tumors in a lab setting. Rajesh Nair, vice president of operations, said the product is an innovation for drug makers looking for the most effective way to kill cancer cell clusters.

"We wanted to see the flavors of the local companies around the area," Nair said. "We want them to use our product and test it out for themselves."

Nair expected the two-and-a-half-hour expo to draw a crowd of about 200 people. When the event made its debut last year, it was the only one of its kind put on by BioFlorida.

Matt M. Johnson, Herald business reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7027 or on Twitter@MattAtBradenton.

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 7:39 PM with the headline "BioTech Expo inspires crowd at State College of Florida ."