Another research center looks to follow Scripps

By ROBERT BARBA
Another California-based research center has Florida on its mind, but life-science seekers are too tied up to take notice.

Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies is the latest La Jolla, Calif.-based research center to announce intentions of expanding into Florida. The entity, similar to Scripps Research Institute expanding into Palm Beach County, has its eye on Boca Raton, but has also looked at Port St. Lucie, Orlando and Tampa, said Richard Houghten, Torrey Pines' founder and president.

"We are still deciding where the best place for us to be is," Houghten said. "But nothing is fixed in stone."

The research institute expects interested cities to submit bids to Enterprise Florida by the end of the week, Houghten said, adding that a site would likely be selected "soon."
Torrey Pines wants to add about 180 jobs over the next decade in Florida and its new research center would be focused on drug discovery, Houghten said. Torrey Pines would bring along two companies. One is working on a finger-prick test that could detect a heart attack with 95 percent accuracy. The other is developing a treatment for chronic pulmonary obstructive disease.

With Palm Beach County still reeling from the political and financial experience of attracting Scripps, and Port St. Lucie locked in a battle with Orlando for Burnham Institute, Torrey Pines might be without a local suitor for now.

Scripps, Burnham and Torrey Pines are within a 10- to 15-minute walk of each other in La Jolla and have collaborated over the past 20 years, Houghten said.

According to the Sun-Sentinel, the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County is trying to assemble a $70 million deal for Torrey Pines that includes a county contribution of $25 million, 10 acres from the city of Boca Raton valued at $10 million and matching state incentives. However, Palm Beach County commissioners are lukewarm about a possible deal.
Port St. Lucie City Manager Don Cooper said the city will not submit a plan for Torrey Pines because of an existing bid to Burnham.

"We are not in a position to make a play for it," Cooper said. "You have got be able to afford to do so."

For Burnham, the city has assembled a $70 million to $80 million offer funded by impact fees paid on new homes. Core Communities would donate 140 acres valued at $40 million for the center.

To compete with Orlando's philanthropic muscle, a group of local well-heeled investors, led by H. Wayne Huizenga, have pulled together $6 million to sweeten the deal.

Burnham's decision is expected as early as the end of the month. Cooper declined to speculate if the city would go after Torrey Pines if Burnham picks Orlando.

Houghten said he and his team have visited Florida five times since deciding to expand in the state after conversations with Governor Jeb Bush. Of those trips, two of them have included "driving and looking around" Port St. Lucie, without any meetings with officials of biotech's largest local stakeholders: the city, St. Lucie County, Core Communities and the Economic Development Council of St. Lucie County.

EDC president Larry Pelton could not be reached for comment.