Biotechnology an industry that builds on itself

Thursday, March 31, 2005

If things work out as hoped, biotechnology will be significant to Maine's future.

The governor has made it a top priority, as have many communities and developers who are trying to establish technology or biotechnology parks around the state.

Success in this arena tends to come slowly. Biotechnology is an area in which "little" does not mean "insignificant." Companies or new ventures often start small with few employees.

Such start-ups often lead to others being launched.

Consider Pharmacom Technologies International. It is planning to open a research laboratory at the at the Thomas M. Teague Biotechnology Center in Fairfield.

It will not be a large operation, at least in the foreseeable future; but its arrival is certainly meaningful to the Teague Center and to the growth of biotechnology in Maine.

If things develop as we all hope, Pharmacom eventually will add employees and build a manufacturing facility in Fairfield.

Pharmacom Technologies International is part of Pharmacom Corp., which describes itself as a biodetection microsystem company.

The multinational corporation's divisions are involved in identifying molecular, subcellular and cellular targets, and in developing and designing software, hardware and other technology used in highly sophisticated research.

Its Fairfield operation will focus initially on developing research methods and technology to detect viruses that cause severe acute respiratory syndrome. The potentially fatal, flu-like disease is better known as SARS.

Research on the detection of other infectious diseases should follow, according to Pharmacom officials.

Once research is completed on the system to be used in SARS detection, Pharmacom expects to build and test prototypes.

When the equipment is ready for use -- expected to be in about three years -- the company will begin manufacturing and shipping it.

Pharmacom already has a standing order from China for the SARS diagnostic system.

Mainland China was hit hard in 2003 by a SARS epidemic that killed 349 and sickened more than 5,000. Worldwide, the outbreak killed 774 people and made another 8,100 ill.

None of us needs to understand the complexities of SARS or Pharmacom's work to appreciate the importance of the company's decision to come to central Maine.

It is a significant gain for the region and the effort to make the state a bigger player in biotechnology.

The firm's research at the Teague Center will be done in collaboration with Robert J. Lad, director of the Laboratory for Surface Science & Technology at the University of Maine and other researchers in the state.

That is exactly the kind of cooperation that is needed for such research and manufacturing to take off in Maine. The state's colleges and universities -- faculty members and students -- must be brought into the process immediately. Certain high school teachers and students might have roles to play, too.

Pharmacom's decision to lease space and conduct research at the Teague Center is the result of a lot of hard work locally.

Clyde E. Dyar, the center's director, worked with Pharmacom for several months. He helped company officials apply for a grants to rent the space and buy laboratory equipment.

Pharmacom learned recently that it is among the ventures selected to receive money from the Maine Technology Institute. Those funds are helping the company establish its Fairfield research laboratory.

It joins The Jackson Laboratory and the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute as the Teague Center's tenants.

No one should be troubled by the fact that none of these is a large operation with many employees.

Each is an important addition in the continuing effort to bring biotechnology to central Maine.