When most people think of Greater Fort Lauderdale they think of vacation and warm sunny beaches. However, Greater Fort Lauderdale also offers the perfect climate for some of the most dynamic pharmaceutical, medical device and biomedical clusters in the country.
Major medical device, biomedical, pharmaceutical and clinical research companies with R&D, manufacturing and distribution facilities such as Allergan, Stryker, Lupin and Teva, among many others, recognize the many advantages Greater Fort Lauderdale has to offer. All benefit from Greater Fort Lauderdale’s large trained workforce, and a value chain that includes suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, academic institutions, researchers, and workforce training programs.
South Florida, as a region, also offers convenient access to many leading research institutes and academic institutions such as Nova Southeastern University, Scripps Florida, Max Planck Florida Institute, Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies, the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine and Florida International University’s Biomedical Engineering Department.
A Collaboration For Success
South Florida’s academic institutions, research parks and economic development organizations have joined together to form Life Sciences South Florida (LSSF) (LifeSciencesSF.org). LSSF’s goal is to provide state, federal and private investment opportunities, along with hosting a centralized platform for utilizing shared equipment and building collaboration with ongoing research.
BioFlorida is the voice of Florida’s life sciences industry on a statewide level, with regional chapters that represent nearly 5,500 establishments and research organizations. Their initiatives provide a strong business climate for the advancement of innovative products that improve lives and promote economic benefits to the state.
A Diverse Industry Cluster
South Florida is home to approximately 1,500 bioscience businesses and institutions that employ more than 13,000 people and generate over $4 billion in sales. Some of the leading companies include:
- Allergan has a pharmaceutical manufacturing and warehousing facility in Davie which manufactures about 2.2 billion units annually. It is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Health Canada, and the European Medicines Agency.
- Altor BioScience, a Miramar company that has developed two proprietary cancer treatment platforms, merged with California-based NantCell in a transaction valued at more than $1 billion.
- Aveva Drug Delivery Systems is a global leader in transdermal drug delivery systems. The Hollywood company is part of Apotex, Canada's largest pharmaceutical company.
- Florida Supplement is a nutraceutical manufacturer and packager of nutritional supplements in tablets, capsules, liquids and power blend forms. Located in Miramar, Florida Supplement has manufactured nutritional supplement products for customers in the United States, Latin America and Europe.
- Goodwin Biotechnology, Inc. is a fully integrated contract manufacturing organization of monoclonal antibodies and recombinant proteins for preclinical and phase I/II/III clinical trials. Plantation-based GBI has worked with companies of all sizes.
- Hema Diagnostic Systems, LLC is a Miramar company that produces a full line of rapid diagnostic assays for major infectious disease testing.
- ImmunoSite Technologies, LLC is a Miramar-based provider of automation, design and customization of complex biological assays to biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries worldwide.
- Lupin Pharmaceuticals is a U.S. subsidiary of Lupin Limited, a research-oriented pharmaceutical company headquartered in Mumbai, India. Its Coral Springs facility focuses on inhalation products for the treatment of asthma, allergic rhinitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and other lung diseases.
- Stryker-MAKO Surgical Corp. is a Stryker medical device company in Davie that markets its RIO® Robotic-Arm Interactive Orthopedic system and its proprietary RESTORIS® implants for minimally invasive orthopedic knee procedures.
- OmniComm Systems, Inc. is a global provider of eclinical solutions in Fort Lauderdale.
- OrbusNeich is a medical device company that develops therapies for vascular disease at its Advanced Research and Development facility in Fort Lauderdale.
- SHL Pharma expanded its manufacturing and R&D facility in Deerfield Beach. SHL Pharma is part of SHL Group, the world’s largest privately-owned designer, developer and manufacturer of advanced drug delivery systems.
- Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd., handles engineering, information technology and purchasing services at its facility in Weston.
- Trividia Health, a subsidiary of China-based Sinocare Group, has a large facility in Fort Lauderdale that makes glucose-monitoring equipment and related products for diabetics.
- Terumo Aortic in Sunrise, develops new products for endovascular aortic treatment. One of the company’s products is its Relay Thoracic Stent-Graft with Plus Delivery System, a life-saving technology offered to patients with Thoracic Aortic Aneurysms.
- U.S. Stem Cell Inc. in Sunrise, has multiple cell therapies in various stages of development that repair tissues damaged by injury or disease.
- Vigilant Biosciences, a developer of products for early detection of oral cancer, has raised more than $17 million in financing since it was founded in Fort Lauderdale in 2012.
