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Metro Orlando's biotechnology and life science sector
encompasses hundreds of organizations dedicated to research and
development that is integral to improving quality of life. Whether
their work is in extracting plant nutrients to produce vital
vaccines or creating data management systems for medical records,
these businesses contribute to the continued growth and success of
the industry. Listed below are brief overviews of some of Metro
Orlando's leading biotechnology and life science companies:
Amaro
& Associates, Inc.
Amaro & Associates, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical technology
consulting firm that delivers quality assurance testing and
validation, quality IT business processes and performance testing
to ensure pharmaceutical manufacturing systems function properly
through the development of its Total Validation Management (TVM)
system. In a period of stronger pushes toward FDA regulation, this
system consolidates multiple processes into one efficient program.
The client is then able to create testable requirements, test
plans, test scenarios and summary documents, which are not only
less confusing but are accurate and complete.
Axium Healthcare Pharmacy, Inc.
Axium Healthcare Pharmacy, Inc. is a nationwide, privately-held
"Clinical Specialty Pharmacy" licensed and permitted to operate in
all 50 states. Axium Healthcare Pharmacy, Inc. specializes in
providing physicians, patients, health plans and other healthcare
providers with injectable and oral brand name products as well as
compounded pharmaceutical products.
Cardiovascular Sciences, Inc.
Cardiovascular Sciences, Inc. is a biotech company focused on the
development of innovative medical products. The company is
currently developing proprietary technology for the prevention of
post-surgical adhesions as well as patented methods for preventing
blood clot formations on medical devices and for treating patients
suffering from cardiac trauma, such as ischemic reperfusion injury,
heart failure, and bypass surgery.
Cognoscenti Health Institute
Cognoscenti Health Institute is an evidence-based clinical
laboratory based in the Central Florida Research Park, adjacent to
the University of Central Florida in East Orlando. Cognoscenti
delivers on-site state-of-art diagnostic testing and professional
interpretive services to community physicians, hospitals and the
general population and offers faster turn-around time and
consultation support via advanced information technology.
Cognoscenti’s 6,500 square-foot facility houses a high-tech
clinical laboratory offering over 900 tests of interest and value
to referring physicians and patients, more than 250 of which are
performed on-site.
CORD:USE
Founded by obstetricians who make blood stem cell products more
readily available, CORD:USE Cord Blood Bank’s program at Orlando
Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies is utilizing umbilical
cord blood – the most readily available source of stem cells – to
help save lives. CORD:USE collaborates with hospitals nationwide to
provide mothers with the opportunity to donate their babies’
umbilical cord. This partnership satisfies their mission to create
large, ethnically diverse inventories of cord blood stem cell
units, which continues to improve the odds of survival for patients
in need of a stem cell transplant.
CuraScript, Inc.
CuraScript, Inc., the nation's largest privately-held specialty
biotech pharmacy services company and a subsidiary of Express
Scripts, combines high-tech distribution capabilities and clinical
services to provide specialty inject-able medications to
individuals requiring complex, high-cost treatment. Recognized as
an industry leader in managing care for patients with chronic
illnesses, CuraScript employs over 2,500 team members and their
state-of-the-art dispensing facility is headquartered in Orlando.
Office and clinic-based physicians are the primary customers of
their distribution services which provide integrated delivery
solutions to safely and consistently distribute pharmaceuticals and
medical supplies. CuraScript has a network of satellite
distribution pharmacies, including a hemophilia center of
excellence, and several infusion centers located across the United
States.
Emergency Medicine Learning & Resource Center
(EMLRC)
Orlando-based Emergency Medicine Learning Resource Center (EMLRC)
provides pre-hospital emergency care providers with the medical
training necessary for disaster situations. The company's Mobile
Emergency Simulation Lab (SimLab) is a motor coach designed to
resemble a simulated ER and ambulance, allowing first responders to
train in a realistic environment. The simulation lab is on the road
five days a week visiting hospitals, EMS agencies and fire
departments. EMLRC is the first mobile simulation lab in the
country. The center also conducts research in the areas of disaster
management, emergency medicine and public health.
Florida’s Blood Centers
Florida's Blood Centers (FBC), a not-for-profit organization, is
the sole supplier of blood and blood products to 70 healthcare
facilities in a 21-county area. With its 875 employees they are
able to provide more than 360,000 units of blood and blood products
each year donated entirely by volunteers. FBC remains the largest
blood bank in Florida and the fourth largest independent blood bank
in the nation. In addition to supplying blood and blood products,
FBC offers HLA tissue matching, bone-marrow donor registration and
a full-service tissue and eye bank.
Florida Hospital
Florida Hospital is an acute-care health care system that is part
of the comprehensive network of hospitals of the Adventist Health
System. It is the largest private, not-for-profit hospital and is
the oldest and largest health care system in Central Florida.
Florida Hospital offers a wide range of health services for the
entire family, including cardiology, neurology, diabetes, and
women’s medicine.
- As the first of its kind in Central Florida, the
Nicholson Center for Surgical Advancement is a
premier center for hands-on surgical instruction. The prime
objective is to develop and disseminate cutting edge surgical
knowledge and techniques to the global surgical community through
state-of-the-art teleconferencing technology. Participants perform
minimally invasive surgical procedures at one of nine
state-of-the-art endoscopically equipped stations.
- The Global Robotics Institute is a world class
multi-specialty surgical program comprised of leading urologic,
gynecologic, colorectal, and cardiac physicians dedicated to
providing superior patient outcomes through the use of robot
assisted laparoscopic technology. The Global Robotic Institute is a
destination program for both patients and physicians. Patients come
from all over the world to their main facility Florida Hospital
Orlando and their resort style campus Florida Hospital Celebration
Health for the latest surgical treatment options. Nearly 7,000
international and domestic physicians receive training on the
latest surgical treatments at Florida Hospital's Nicholson Center
for Surgical Advancement each year.
- Scheduled to open in 2012, the Translational Research
Institute for Metabolism and Diabetes Biorepository, a
partnership between Florida Hospital and Sanford-Burnham Medical
Research Institute at Lake Nona, will focus on changing the way
diabetes and obesity research is conducted and make it possible to
deliver results faster for patients. The facility will serve as the
gateway to Florida Hospital’s upcoming “Health Village” at their
main campus.
GENICON
GENICON is recognized as an emerging leader in the design,
production, and distribution of patented surgical instrumentation
focused exclusively on laparoscopic surgery, a form of minimally
invasive surgery. Founded in 1998 and based in Orlando, Florida,
GENICON is a privately held firm in which several of its
shareholders are surgeons who utilize their products. GENICON
remains today as it originated: a company driven to meet the needs
of modern-day healthcare through the harmonization of clinical
needs and the economic demands of a global healthcare system.
Informed Care
Informed Care provides disease management and telemedicine services
to address the complications and costs of chronic illnesses and
public health conditions. The delivery of services falls into two
categories: the provision of case management services and the
provision of software, networks and infrastructure to provide
remote consultation and care to patients through caregiving
providers or networks.
INTER
BIO-LAB, Inc.
INTER BIO-LAB, Inc. is an established international provider of
superior reconditioned clinical diagnostic analyzers. The company
strives to deliver high quality instruments, meet its customers’
delivery schedules and keep up with technological advances. IBL’s
extensive partnerships allow the company to provide superior
chemistry, hematology, coagulation, blood, gas and electrolyte
analyzers at an excellent value. The company recently opened a new
36,500-square-foot facility in the heart of Metro Orlando. The
facility features a high tech department with new technology and
storage capabilities.
Nemours
Children's Hospital
Nemours Children’s Hospital and Pediatric Health Campus is also
under construction in Orlando’s fast-emerging Lake Nona Medical
City. The 620,000-square-foot facility will include 95 beds, an
18-bay emergency department, a neonatal intensive care unit and
departments specializing in complex childhood diseases. Scheduled
to open in 2012, the hospital will be the central hub of a 60-acre
pediatric health campus featuring a children’s clinic, emergency
department, diagnostic and ambulatory programs, education centers
and research programs. The Nemours Children’s Hospital is
expected to pump $400 million into the Central Florida economy and
eventually create 2,600 new jobs.
NIIT Healthcare
NIIT Healthcare is a strategic provider of application outsourcing,
product development and custom software development, integration
and maintenance services that links e-services with backend systems
for healthcare organizations worldwide. The company has a core
focus on continuity of care, patient access, physician relationship
management, patient clinical information management, electronic
referrals, secure messaging and data analysis. The Preferr product is a
web-based, interactive, intelligent collaboration solution that
allows all care providers to automate the referral process,
securely exchange patient clinical and contact information, track
referrals, communicate real time and forecast referral patterns.
This improved communication system between providers serves to
address growing needs, improve the continuity of care and foster
better patient care and patient/doctor relationships.
Orlando Health
Orlando Health is one of Florida's most comprehensive private,
not-for-profit healthcare networks. A community-based and supported
hospital organization of facilities, they are dedicated to serving
the needs of our region. Comprised of Orlando Regional Medical
Center, Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children, Winnie Palmer Hospital
for Women and Babies, M. D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando, Cancer
Research Institute, Orlando Health Foundation, plus more.
M. D. Anderson - Orlando's Cancer Research
Institute (CRI)
M. D. Anderson - Orlando's Cancer Research Institute uses basic and
translational research to understand how tumors grow and spread,
creating more effective treatments for cancer patients. More
recently, the CRI has partnered with the University of Central
Florida to advance cancer research in Orlando. UCF’s new Health
Sciences campus at Lake Nona allows for a 30,000-square-foot space
for the Cancer Center in the new Burnett Biomedical Sciences
Building scheduled for completion this year. Part of the Orlando
Regional Healthcare System, CRI is the first and largest affiliate
of the world-renowned University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer
Center. M. D. Anderson works to create superior programs in
multidisciplinary patient care, prevention, research and
professional and community education. They have achieved
significant improvement in the quality of cancer care in Central
Florida, providing care to cancer patients from diagnosis through
all phases of treatment and follow up.
Orlando
VA Medical Center
Scheduled to open in 2013 in the Lake Nona Medical City, the
Orlando VA Medical Center will be a 134-bed hospital that will
bring the latest research and state-of-the-art medicine to 400,000
Central Florida veterans. This facility, the first VA hospital
built in the United States since 1995, will pioneer cutting-edge
technology in prosthetic limbs and bionic technologies for arms,
legs, and eyes. The Medical Center will also specialize in brain
injury treatment, post traumatic stress disorder research and
treatments in suicide prevention.
In addition, the site has been selected as the national site for
the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Simulation Center. The
center will be the nationwide training and planning home for the
VA’s new medical simulation system – Simulated Learning Enhancement
and Advanced Research Network. A 35,000-square-foot facility, to be
called the SimLEARN National Center, will bring physicians and
other medical professionals from throughout the country to train in
the latest medical simulation technology, including surgical
robotics.
Ortheon
Medical
Headquartered in Metro Orlando, Ortheon is a development stage
company currently working on commercializing its proprietary Teno
Fix technology. Teno Fix uses an innovative soft-tissue anchor
system and works to change the way tendons are repaired forever.
Under a research agreement formed with the University of Central
Florida (UCF), university biomedical engineering researchers will
analyze new uses throughout the body for this revolutionary tendon
repair system. UCF researchers will perform biomechanical testing,
create prototypes and provide lab assistance and analysis relating
to Ortheon's Teno Fix™ technology.
Rippe Health Evaluation
The Rippe Health Evaluation is the only executive health program in
the United States directed by a board-certified cardiologist.
Because of both the quality and totality of its assessment program,
the Rippe Health Evaluation has rightly been called "the finest
high-touch, high-tech executive health assessment in the world."
The Rippe Health Evaluation has been developed by Dr. James Rippe,
internationally recognized for his fitness and lifestyle research
and medicine, to meet a number of health and wellness needs. It
incorporates the advantages of the finest diagnostic equipment and
systems, as well as state-of-the-art medical technologies.
Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute at Lake
Nona
Sanford-Burnham is a non-profit research organization and an early
partner and anchor in the Lake Nona Medical City. In April 2009,
teams of scientists who study diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular
disease moved into a state-of-the-art 175,000 square-foot
institute. The Institute at Lake Nona is committed to conducting
fundamental and translational research and is supported by almost
$40 million of grant funding. Within 10 years Burnham at Lake Nona
will employ over 300 scientists and support personnel. The facility
is one of the largest LEED certified scientific buildings in
Central Florida. Burnham’s presence in Orlando is expected to be a
catalyst for future growth of biotech and life sciences in metro
Orlando and a key contributor to diversification of the
economy.
sanofi pasteur VaxDesign Campus
The sanofi pasteur VaxDesign Campus designs, develops, and
manufactures in vitro models of the human immune system.
Their mission is to prevent infectious disease by forecasting
vaccine responses before clinical trials, and create a competitive
advantage by providing predictive in vitro immunological
models and assays.
Between 2004 and 2009, the company developed a "clinical trial
in a test tube" that is able to predict human responses to
pharmaceuticals and vaccines much better than existing approaches.
This artificial immune system – called MIMIC – was part of a Rapid
Vaccine Assessment Program with the Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency that eventually led to VaxDesign being acquired by
sanofi pasteur in 2010.
Triad Isotopes
Triad Isotopes, Inc., headquartered in Orlando, works to advance
the diagnosis and treatment of disease through the use of
radiopharmaceuticals and is the fastest growing radiopharmaceutical
company in the nation. The company has brought together 21 of the
best independent facilities serving the nuclear medicine industry.
The pharmacies, doctors and hospitals under the Triad Isotopes
ownership umbrella are given the funding, corporate resources, and
quality assurance standards vital to delivering growth, superior
service and innovations in the nuclear medicine industry.
UroSolutions, Inc.
UroSolutions, Inc. is a medical technology company that
manufactures and distributes urological medical devices. The
company’s revolutionary technologies include a patented
hydrodynamically bladder management system, as well as other
products promoting the health, comfort, convenience and safety of
urinary care patients.
Valensa
International (formerly U.S. Nutraceuticals
LLC)
Valensa International is a science-based developer and manufacturer
of high-quality ingredients for supplemental human nutrition.
Today, the company is the leading vertically integrated global
supplier of saw palmetto and astaxanthin products. Additionally,
Valensa manufactures a line of high value botanical extracts
including cranberry seed, ginger, rosemary, oregano, valerian and
other botanical ingredients.
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