Legislative Life Sciences Caucus
Life Sciences Caucus Documents
2024 Meetings
FY25 One NC Small Business Program Funding Request
The Life Sciences Caucus of the NC General Assembly met for the first time in 2024 at the NC Department of Commerce at 7:30 a.m., Wednesday, May 1. Caucus cochairs Sen. Paul Newton and Sen. Mike Woodard attended as did NC Secretary of Commerce Machelle Sanders.
NC LifeSci President Laura Gunter outlined the NC innovation pipeline for caucus members and reviewed the kinds of funding needed at the various stages of a company's development. She emphasized the importance of grants and loans from the NC Biotechnology Center and SBIR/STTR matching grants from the One NC Small Business Program in fueling the commercialization of new and innovative technologies.
Peter Pellerito, senior policy adviser federal/state economic development & technology transfer lead for the Biotechnology Innovation Organization, was also present and shared his perspective on how the North Carolina life sciences ecosystem compares to others he sees around the nation.
2023 Meetings
The Life Sciences Caucus met Monday, Sept. 18, at 12 p.m. at the Plant Sciences Building on the North Carolina State University Centennial Campus.
Agriculture is a key economic driver in NC. So, too, is the life sciences industry, where agtech has been growing rapidly. When those two sectors align, it can be of real benefit to the state.
Members of the Agriculture and the Environment team at the Biotechnology Innovation Organization were on hand to give an overview of both federal issues and state issues affecting the agbio and environmental industries.
- Federal issues discussed included the U.S.-Mexico trade dispute over an upcoming import ban on genetically engineered corn, recent U.S. EPA plant incorporated protectants regulation and the Plant Biostimulants Act in the Farm Bill.
- Issues moving in states throughout the country include legislation banning or restricting vaccination of livestock, incentivizing sustainable aviation fuel production and use and bills banning or restricting foreign ownership of agricultural land, which can adversely impact R&D.
Pairwise, a small gene editing company based in Durham, NC, which has a new produce product on the market, talked about EPA impediments to their business. Representatives from BASF, Hoofprint Biome, Novozymes and Syngenta were also available.
2022 Meetings
Gene therapy and rare diseases topic of Life Sciences Caucus
The General Assembly's Life Sciences Caucus met Tuesday, June 28, to learn about the promise of gene therapies as potential treatments for rare diseases.
Nearly two dozen legislators and staff members heard from Priya Kishnani, M.D., and Vandana Shashi, M.D., of the Duke Undiagnosed Diseases Network and Marianne Hamilton Lopez, M.D., of the Duke Margolis Center for Health Policy along with Charlene Cowell, executive director of Bleeding Disorders of North Carolina. Caucus Co-Chairs Sen. Paul Newton, Sen. Mike Woodard and Rep. Donna White were in attendance.
Hamilton Lopez told legislators that gene therapies will often differ from traditional treatment in that the therapies may only be administered once as opposed to conventional treatments that are given as multiple or continual doses of medication. Gene therapies are currently much more expensive than conventional therapies, which makes them a challenge for our current system to pay. The upfront cost of these breakthrough therapies must be weighed against the impressive benefits they offer compared to conventional therapies.
2021 Meetings
2020 Meetings
2019 Meetings
2018 Meetings
NC Life Sciences Headlines
United Therapeutics to build $500 million manufacturing facility in RTP
W-S cellular therapeutics company plans 330 new jobs, plant in Triad
Drug giant Merck, NC A&T to launch biotech training center
United Therapeutics opens a net zero energy center in RTP
IQVIA raises $1.25 billion in upsized offering
NC firms ink billion-dollar deal to discover new treatments
Custom surgical implant startup lands $12 million in new cash
Big cash infusion to boost Durham startup 410 Medical’s critical care efforts
NC Biotech Center hands out early $2.3 million in grants, loans
Duke spin-out scores $2 million to forward diagnostics platform
Winston-Salem's Innovation Quarter economic impact reaches $1.66 billion in 2022
Bioengineering firm raises up to $150 million in new capital
Raleigh startup raises $36 million to advance COPD treatment
Hatteras-backed startup aims to treat 'undruggable' cancer targets
NC pharma startup raises $15 million to fight anaphylaxis without needles
RTP drug developer adds $30 million to extend cash runway
Life sciences firm relocates headquarters to downtown Raleigh
Global CRO opens new office in Wilmington
Small pharma firm raises $15 million to treat lung disease
Raleigh pharma raises $5 million as phase 3 study begins
Dignify Therapeutics lands federal grant to drive bladder, bowel treatment
Biotech Tiamat Sciences adds $2 million to seed round
Wilmington clinical research firms lands NIH contract for neurological device development
Biotech with office in Chapel Hill closes on $65 million funding round
Neonatal care startup lands nearly $16 million in new round of financing
NCBiotech awards $2.3 million in mix of 19 grants, loans
Nanotech startup pursing new drug delivery technology is raising $2 million
New Triangle pharma raises $150 million for thyroid drug
Triangle precision medicine, drug research firm lands $25 million in new capital
Eli Lilly to expand Durham campus with 100-job manufacturing facility
Pfizer expands North Carolina manufacturing footprint with plant purchase
Labcorp clinical-trials spinoff expected to employ 19,000 workers
Winston-Salem regenerative medicine community launches clinical trials program
Freight forwarder DHL makes $8 million bet on Triangle pharma
NC’s booming life science sector now pays average wage of $112,000
$60 million startup aims to redefine treatment of severe neuropsychiatric disorders
Pharma packaging maker to create 80 jobs, invest $20 million in Winston-Salem
Triangle lands R&D center for Iowa company developing animal vaccines