Page 94 - Innovation Delaware 2019

providing support for early proof-of- concept projects, medicinal chemistry, lead optimization, custom syntheses and process development.
“We see ourselves as a strategic part- ner,” Cottone says, “not just a chemistry supplier.” Universal Display Corp., which acquired Adesis in 2016, has allowed Adesis to run independently and remain on the fast track, he says.
Adesis is not the only Delaware-based CRO on the move. Dr. Benjamin Chien founded QPS in 1995 after working for DuPont Pharmaceutical. Today, QPS Holdings LLC, a global CRO with eight subsidiaries, and QPS LLC, the largest of the subsidiaries, are headquar- tered in Delaware. QPS LLC supplies laboratory services in bioanalysis, drug metabolism, and pharmacokinetic and transitional medicine.
QPS’ clients are outsourcing research and development work for both preclin-
ical and clinical studies, explains Ben Hsu, chief administrative officer of QPS Holdings and general manager of QPS. This year, QPS announced the three- fold expansion of its translational medi- cine unit in Delaware to meet the grow- ing demand for gene-therapy treatments.
New to the CRO space is Seven Star Pharmaceutical Services, which uses solid state chemistry/materials science and engineering principles to solve drug-development problems.
Sathyanarayana Reddy Perumalla, who’s worked for large regional compa- nies, founded Seven Stars Pharmaceutical Services in January to capitalize on what he saw as a trend in biosciences. “In the future, outsourcing is going to grow,”
he says. “I could find another job with a company — that’s not a problem — but with all the knowledge that I have, why shouldn’t I have the company?”
Perumalla has laboratory space in North Wilmington, but he also uses analytical equipment at the University of Delaware.
Provine says such arrangements are creating a more supportive environment for startups. His Delaware Innovation Space — a science and technology start- up incubator, accelerator and research institute — was developed in 2017 in partnership with the state of Delaware, DuPont and the University of Delaware.
The University of Delaware’s STAR Campus is growing on 272 acres once occupied by Chrysler’s assembly plant. It’s an appropriate location.
Stimson says Delaware’s academic arena is a hotbed for research. The Delaware IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) includes the University of Delaware, Delaware
STARTUPS
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In Spring 2020, the Delaware Biotechnology Institute (DBI) is moving to the Ammon Pinizzotto Biopharmaceutical Innovation Center
on the University of Delaware’s Science Technology and Research campus.
The DBI supports state-of-the-art core research instrumentation facilities including: Bioimaging, DNA Sequencing & Genotyping, and Bioinformatics
to support academic and industry life-science researchers.
92 DelawareBusinessTimes.com
SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENT FOR