CAROLINA NORTH

Chemistry researcher sees potential of Innovation Center

What happens when bacteria become resistant to antibiotics? The question intrigued Matt Redinbo, professor of chemistry, biochemistry and biophysics — not just from a scientific standpoint, but also from a public health perspective.

REDINBO

Discovering how to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria in patients could stop the dangerous spread of E. coli, staph infections and hospital-acquired pneumonia. Yet many big pharmaceutical companies are not interested in developing products to fight these resistant strains of bacteria, leaving it to University researchers like Redinbo and his team to turn their discoveries into life-saving products for the public.

“We got interested in this, in part, because big pharma doesn’t work on this as much as they used to and, in part, because in my kid’s lifetime, a simple kidney infection is going to be a major problem,” Redinbo said. “It’s going to take someone who is untethered a priori by a profit motive to make key discoveries. Then, when the science is in place, a translation to drug development is the necessary next step.”

So, with the help of the Office of Technology Development, Redinbo founded Exigent Pharmaceuticals Inc. in 2007. The office helped him apply for a patent and begin to develop a product. But Redinbo will have to go off campus to find the space needed for his spin-off company.

“That’s where the Carolina Innovation Center will come in perfectly,” Redinbo said. “We need laboratory space. We need a space where I can meet with the management team of that company. I need it to be close to where I meet with my research team here at Carolina. I can’t imagine a better situation than having the Innovation Center just up the road.”

Redinbo’s company could be a prime tenant in the proposed Innovation Center at Carolina North. The business accelerator, to be built in partnership with Alexandria Real Estate Equities of Pasadena, Calif., is designed to house start-up companies with direct ties to UNC research.

Carolina will provide the site, while Alexandria will build the center and retain ownership and hold leasing rights for 40 years. As the first building slated for the mixed-use academic campus, the Innovation Center will set the tone for Carolina North.

“I believe our faculty need this facility and they need it now,” Chancellor James Moeser has said. “Many faculty working on start-up companies have had to find space outside the University.”

Faculty like Matt Redinbo. He is interested in the Innovation Center for the space he could use to grow his company, Exigent Pharmaceuticals, and he is also excited about the national buzz that would be created by a new business accelerator associated with the University.

“It makes Chapel Hill and the RTP area an even better place to come and do research,” Redinbo said. “We want Chapel Hill and North Carolina to be at the very top of that list.”