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Total Three-Year Start-Up Cost: $1 million
A new Biotechnology Research Center for innovative technologies in transfusion medicine at Florida Blood Services (FBS)
will conduct and oversee research to detect and to eliminate transmittable disease agents and contaminants in donor blood
prior to transfusion. Additionally, the new Biotechnology Research Center will provide centralized oversight and development
of FBS’ growing supportive role in the scientific research of blood therapeutics and innovative transfusion technology to
combat blood and nerve disorders.
Housed within FBS’ St. Petersburg corporate office and main laboratory facility at 10100 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street
North, the new Biotechnology Research Center will evaluate and administer participation in blood and transfusion medicine
research conducted by universities, by private corporations including pharmaceutical companies and medical equipment
manufacturers, and by governmental agencies involved in disease control and medical research. Where appropriate, the
FBS Biotechnology Research Center will develop its own research in these areas.
The need for such a Center evolves from a growing demand for blood center collaboration and assistance in the development
and testing of new technology and equipment in therapeutics and transfusion medicine as well as detection and elimination
of transmittable disease agents and contaminants in donor blood. This includes clinical trials on new technology and equipment,
new or improved reagents and improved blood testing and processing methods. Continued advances in medical science utilizing
blood therapeutics increasingly as a primary combatant to disease and disorders are making blood centers like FBS a key
part of a community’s healthcare infrastructure. Successful research and development outcomes from this new FBS Biotechnology
Research Center will greatly benefit patients locally and worldwide.
Current inquiries for supporting this kind of medical and scientific research include: Research into Pathogen Inactivated
Platelets and Red Blood Cells; a government sponsored study for emerging pathogen surveillance; detection of bacterial
contamination in platelet components; a study on Therapeutic Plasma Exchange using Baxter’s Amicus Cell Separator;
automated red blood cell antibody screening in donors; and gene probe tests for HIV and HCV utilizing transcription
mediated amplification using automated equipment. The need for such a Center is also documented in the existing research
and development of patented technologies through FBS’ affiliation with the University of South Florida (USF) and FBS’ role
as a regional monitoring hub for the Center for Disease Control.
Operating as a department within FBS, the new Biotechnology Research Center is part of the blood center’s four-year strategic
plan approved by the FBS Board of Directors. Dr. German Leparc, Chief Medical Officer of Florida Blood Services, has been
appointed director of the Biotechnology Center. Dr. Leparc is responsible for coordination and evaluation of Biotechnology
Research Center research projects including day-to-day administration, the scientific documentation of projects and the
marketing of the Center’s capabilities.
As approved in the FBS strategic plan in establishing the Center, three years of operating capital totaling $1 million is
required upfront with a successful implementation of a business plan for the Center to become self-sustaining after three
years. The private revenue supporting this Center would come from contractual agreements with universities, corporations
and government entities utilizing the Center’s supportive research and FBS-initiated project funded by individuals and
foundation donors. Current or previous contract sponsors of this type of research at FBS have included the National Institutes
of Health, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Chiron Corporation,
Gen-Probe Incorporated, Cerus Corporation, the Universidad de Carabobo of Venezuela, the Whatman Corporation, the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, and the University of South Florida.
Budget planning for the three-year start up cost of the Biotechnology Research Center provides for approximately half of the
$1 million required in the first year and the remainder over the following two years, leading to a self-supporting center
in the year 2006.
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