April 03, 2020 Jacksonville could become a life sciences hub
Jacksonville is not a hub for the life sciences industry ... yet.
That fact was evidenced twice as recently as 2018, the year TapImmune Inc., a company focused on cancer immunotherapies, left Jacksonville for Houston and NeuroInitiative, a company focused on curing Parkinson's disease, launched a Boston-based spinoff. Neither could meet its capital or research needs from the First Coast.
But Mike Brown, an expert in life sciences real estate, believes that Jacksonville has the foundation to build a life sciences cluster as strong as those that have pulled companies from Jacksonville in the past. And that foundation is in place at a critical time – a time when the nation's health care research, manufacturing and logistics sectors have been dwarfed by the challenge of stopping the spread of COVID-19.
Brown serves as senior director of Colliers International's Life Sciences Practice Group, having spent half of his more than 40 years in real estate focused on life sciences.
Now based in Jacksonville, Brown has sold or leased more than 13 million square feet of space to the life sciences industry, including to companies researching gene therapy, building medical devices, conducting laboratory research and more.
Brown shared his views on Jacksonville's potential for the life sciences industry – and what it must do to build a cluster – with the Business Journal.
Jacksonville's foundation
Exhibit A that Jacksonville has a leg up on other would-be life sciences clusters: Mayo Clinic's Jacksonville campus.
Here for the past 34 years, Mayo embarked on $245 million in capital projects in Jacksonville last year, and it is home to a life sciences incubator aimed at commercializing Mayo's research.
"That's a big start," said Brown. "That piece alone is not getting going to get you there, but Jacksonville has other pieces."
Mayo is also part of another component Brown sees as critical for building a life sciences cluster: Collaboration between universities and companies. Last month, Mayo announced a partnership with Florida State University to grow the pipeline of specialized talent needed for health care innovation.
The partnership will increase the number of FSU interns at Mayo and give Mayo staff access to FSU training and educational opportunities. FSU will also launch an interdisciplinary biomedical entrepreneurship certificate program.
Jacksonville also benefits from the presence of UF Health, and it is in close proximity to the University of Florida's research and innovation programs in Gainesville and Alachua.
Then there are Jacksonville's health care companies, like Ascension and Baptist Health, both of which have been expanding aggressively in Northeast Florida. The presence of these companies concentrates a workforce, knowledge base and level of experience that Brown says is vital for life sciences clusters.
Jacksonville's future
Becoming a life sciences cluster requires savvy moves by Jacksonville's universities, companies and landlords, Brown said.
Jacksonville will need to continue to increase the presence of major research universities, especially FSU and UF, through satellite campuses, internships and the like. Their research pipeline and dollars are essential.
"Without a single exception, the key clusters across the country have been stimulated by access to research institutes," said Brown, pointing to strong research universities in Boston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, San Francisco and other cities.
Jacksonville's local universities, like University of North Florida and Jacksonville University, have a role to play, too. While they would be hard-pressed to compete with the research dollars of FSU or UF, they can train the technicians and specialists required to move an idea from research to testing to manufacturing to deployment, Brown said.
Continued investment and hiring by companies like Ascension, Baptist and Florida Blue is needed to continue to concentrate life sciences talent, knowledge and experience, Brown added.
Finally, Jacksonville needs developers and landlords who can think unconventionally, Brown said.
Building a facility suited for high-level research is costly, requiring a landlord to put as much as three times the dollars per square foot needed to build out conventional office space, Brown said. Many landlords would balk at the cost, especially if their tenant is a startup.
But the tenant is typically putting in twice as much as the landlord, Brown reasoned, and the laboratory space can be suited to a wide array of companies if the startup ultimately fails.
"It can be a windfall for a landlord who understands the industry," said Brown.
Pharmaceutical manufacturing, gene therapy and other life sciences verticals are far more costly, requiring an investment of between $175 and $1,200 per square foot, depending on the type of use. Ceilings have to be at least 20 feet high, but preferably 30 feet, Brown said.
The facilities have to be compliant with the FDA's Current Good Manufacturing Practices. For example, they have to have a "clean room," topped with a walkable ceiling that allows HVAC and electrical maintenance to be done from above without workers entering the sanitized space. Constructing and certifying such space can take about two years, Brown estimated.
Northeast Florida has almost no inventory of such manufacturing space, but neither does just about any established life sciences cluster, Brown said. Warehouse developers have found it irrational to forego high-paying e-commerce distribution centers for the tight margins and long timelines of life sciences manufacturing facilities.
In the aftermath of COVID-19, demand for warehouse space may skew in the opposite direction.
The future is bright for Jacksonville in the life sciences sector, Brown believes.
"I think Jacksonville is on the right path," he said.