Bioventus Lab – Open for Business
Last month we reported on the agreement with MTF to co-develop a placental tissue-based product for knee osteoarthritis. Part of the story included naming those key colleagues on the project: Carl Flannery, Scott Seaman, Jason Siegfried, MK Kottke and Neill Pounder.
We have since made a visit to the new lab to check in with Carl and Neill. Located in a space called the Chesterfield Building, the Bioventus lab, and others like it, are in an old cigarette factory that was built in 1948, for the Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company. Among the brands manufactured there was, you guessed it, Chesterfield.
Shuttered in 1999, the building was given a second life a few years ago when it was redeveloped by Wexford Science & Technology, which works exclusively with universities, academic medical centers and major research institutions to create workspaces for innovation and partnership.
The Chesterfield space was developed with Duke University in mind and the school occupies 30,000 square feet of space on the third and fourth floors with labs for its medicine and engineering schools. It also serves as home to startups in the incubator phase, as well as BioLabs which has taken over the second and third floors to create an innovative co-working space it leases out to companies that need a lab. In total, 35 organizations have space at the Chesterfield.
“We began looking around for space last fall and early this year,” said Neill. “The Chesterfield was the first place we visited. It had everything we needed, but we also looked at other options.”
In the end, the option from BioLabs in the Chesterfield made the most sense as it was turnkey, provided shared equipment options and offered a very flexible lease.
“Our monthly cost is very reasonable and the lease is month-to-month,” said Neill. “Other spaces wanted longer contracts and didn’t offer much in the way of helping us set up our space.”
“With BioLabs if Bioventus needs something, like CO2 cylinders for the cell culture incubator for example, the staff will accept the delivery and set it up in the space for us,” he added.
In addition, staff is on hand to show how shared equipment is used. To reserve equipment users just book time online and if a piece of equipment demonstrates heavy use, another is ordered to meet the demand.
“We’ve been in our space for about three months,” said Carl. “It’s not too far from our office and easy to get here. We’ve also been able to repurpose some equipment from the BMP lab in Boston which will come in handy.”
In addition to the lab, Bioventus can book shared meeting room space and has access to shared communal space for lunching and casual meetings. Light, bright, open and airy, this space is also fully stocked with soft drinks and snacks.
“The whole atmosphere is great. Snacks and drinks aside, what I really love is that it’s space to network with the other companies using the Chesterfield,” said Neill. “We also have an upcoming staff meeting scheduled for one of the shared spaces.”
And soon a new member on the team who will be fully dedicated to the lab will be joining us at Bioventus.
“Kelly Buddin starts on July 1,” said Carl. “She’s a super bright NC State grad who will be conducting many of the biological assays from which the data will support the initiation of clinical trials.”
The team is settled into the new lab space and gelling with their counterparts at MTF. You couldn’t ask for a better start.
“These are exciting times and we’ve got a great team in place,” said Carl. “As milestones are met on the placental tissue OA treatment project we will update the company on our progress. Neill thinks it will be bigger than Star Wars. I don’t disagree,” he laughs.