Biotech Sector Shows Promise in Tenn.
Published Apr 08, 2004
Chuck Witkowski turned a school project into Protein Discovery, a cutting-edge biotech firm in Knoxville.
Chuck Witkowski started a small medical equipment business in high school that financed his college education, led him to an MBA program to hone his business skills and ultimately launched him on the road to start yet another company.
That next company is Protein Discovery Inc., a Knoxville life sciences company using “lab-on-a-chip” technology to develop turnkey systems for the rapid identification of potential disease markers for clinical research, drug discovery and diagnostics.
While pursuing his MBA at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Witkowski attended iPIX founder Lee Martin’s Technopreneurial Leadership Center program, meeting world-renowned scientist Dr. Thomas Thundat at nearby Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Witkowski eventually licensed one of Thundat’s most promising technologies and formed Protein Discovery, formerly Qgenics Biosciences, in 2001.
Protein Discovery’s scientific tools are designed to aid researchers in understanding the function of proteins in disease. Future applications, for example, could accelerate development of therapies to target abnormal protein markers of tumor cells.
Witkowski says he sees tremendous potential for biotech in Tennessee.
“Many important biotech centers can be found in Tennessee, the quality of life is excellent, and the cost of doing business is low,” he says.
Equally impressed is MB Venture Partners LLC, a Memphis venture capital firm that sees Protein Discovery as among the most exciting companies in its portfolio.
“We would like to find other companies like Protein Discovery across the state. It has a very promising scientific discovery, and it’s led by a highly energetic and capable entrepreneur,” says Gary Stevenson, MB Venture’s managing partner.
Stevenson says Oak Ridge National Laboratory “has been a terrific partner in structuring license arrangements and research agreements conducive to startups.”
“We hope to find a lot of other promising technology out of ORNL,” he adds.
Story by Kay Brookshire
Photo by Harrison McClary
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