VGTI FLORIDA RESEARCHERS FIND POTENTIAL HIV TREATMENT

Announcement Shows Potential of Growing Life Sciences Cluster

TRADITION, Fla. (June 25, 2009) – The Florida Center for Innovation at Tradition (FCI) moved another step closer to meeting its promise as an emerging hub of life sciences innovation Monday with the announcement that a team of researchers from VGTI Florida and the University of Montreal have discovered a potential new treatment method that could completely eradicate HIV from the human body.

Research findings published in the online version of the journal Nature Medicine show how Rafick-Pierre Sekaly, Ph.D., current scientific director for VGTI Florida, and his team have identified where and how HIV infection currently persists in patients undergoing treatment, which could open the door to new treatment methods to eliminate HIV from the body.

“Breakthroughs like these not only make it logical for VGTI to continue its growth here but also for us to continue our work to attract world-class research organizations,” said Tradition President Wes McCurry.   “This demonstrates the potential of the collaborative environment we’ve created at the Florida Center for Innovation at Tradition and the value of the investment Florida has made to attract life sciences organizations like VGTI.”

Currently operating from the headquarters of the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies, which opened in FCI this January, VGTI Florida also announced plans to begin construction on its own 105,000-square-foot FCI facility on an eight-acre site in August, with a scheduled opening date of August 2011.

VGTI Florida is the Florida-funded expansion of Oregon Health & Science University’s highly successful Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute.  The institute was created through a $60 million investment by the State of Florida in January 2008, and $ 53 million in matching funds provided by the City of Port St. Lucie.  Research at the facility will focus on vaccine development with a special focus on vaccines and therapeutics that protect the aging population, which is the most vulnerable to disease.

The Florida Center for Innovation is a 150-acre research park under development in the 8,300-acre master-planned community of Tradition, Florida.  The park is anchored by the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies, which will be joined by the VGTI Florida facility and the Mann Research Center, a multi-building life sciences research complex including wet lab facilities, as well as supporting service and medical office facilities.   Martin Memorial Health Systems is also planning a 300-bed acute care hospital and medical center that will bring clinical trials capabilities partnered with the Moffitt Cancer Center to FCI.