Biotech Company Drawn to Tennessee Workforce
Published Apr 08, 2004
Dr. Sam Lynch brought BioMimetic Pharmaceuticals to Tennessee in 2001, attracted by the state’s prominence in orthopedics.
Technology developed and patented at Harvard University provides the foundation for BioMimetic Pharmaceuticals Inc., based in the Cool Springs area just south of Nashville.
The biological-device company hopes to offer in early 2005 a synthetic regeneration system for the treatment of periodontal bone defects.
Dr. Sam Lynch, a researcher and entrepreneur, started his biotech company in New York, based on technologies he developed and patented during 10 years at Harvard. He moved BioMimetic to Tennessee in 2001, attracted by the state’s orthopedic workforce.
“From a professional point of view, Tennessee is one of two major states for orthopedic companies,” says Dr. Charles Hart, BioMimetic’s chief scientific officer. “Memphis has three major companies: Smith & Nephew, Wright Medical and Medtronic Sofamor Danek.”
Incorporated in 1999, BioMimetic is focused on tissue engineering as it develops treatments for the healing and restoration of bone and other tissues.
Lynch, BioMimetic chairman and CEO, worked at a private research institute affiliated with Harvard and served on the faculty. A dentist with a doctorate of medical sciences from Harvard, he was vice president of a pharmaceutical subsidiary before forming BioMimetic.
Hart, who left a Seattle biotech company early in 2004 to join BioMimetic, says the lifestyle here has definite advantages.
“Certainly it is less expensive here than being in Boston or San Diego, both for the company structure and the cost of living for employees you bring in,” Hart says.
Investors include MB Venture Partners, LLC, which BioMimetic chose for its musculoskeletal industry expertise, and an international investor, NovoA/S, based in Copenhagen. With 12 employees in mid-2004, BioMimetic expects to double in size in the next year.
Story by Kay Brookshire
Photo by Greg Emens
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