From LabCorp, the world’s leading health care diagnostics company, to iQ Healthtech Labs, a collaborative hub for accelerating healthtech solutions, biomedical innovation runs throughout the Carolina Core.
Fortune 500 leaders and innovative startups alike populate the Carolina Core’s biomedical and life sciences industry. The area’s cluster includes Procter & Gamble, manufacturing every bottle of Pepto-Bismol from its Greensboro location; Pfizer, addressing the root cause of diseases caused by genetic mutation at its gene therapy plant in Sanford; and Thermo Fisher Scientific, manufacturing soft gel capsules at its High Point facility. Startups are also driving breakthroughs, with KeraNetics developing biomaterials for wound care and tissue regeneration in Winston-Salem and San Francisco-based Audentes Therapeutics manufacturing genetic medicines at its Sanford facility.
Access to Talent and Major Markets
New biomedical companies in the Carolina Core have a deep pool of qualified talent from which to recruit. The talent pipeline is consistently filled with graduates from Wake Forest School of Medicine, Wake Forest University’s biomedical graduate programs, Elon University’s biology program, and biotechnology programs at Alamance Community College and Forsyth Technical Community College, and more.
Companies can also rely on the Carolina Core’s talent and location to quickly move products to major markets. “Greensboro is a big part of our North America supply network, and an exciting part. It’s located very strategically,” says P&G spokesperson Jeff LeRoy.
Located in central North Carolina, the area has close proximity to Charlotte and the Research Triangle, all along future Interstate 685.
Leading Innovation Districts
Many biomedical breakthroughs in the Carolina Core are concentrated within Innovation Quarter, an innovation district in Winston-Salem home to 90 companies employing more than 3,600 people. Innovation Quarter established iQ Healthtech Labs in 2020, creating collaborations between its tenants, traditional and non-traditional partners, commercial markets and potential investors to shorten the life cycle of taking healthtech solutions from ideation to the marketplace. Innovation Quarter is also the home of Wake Forest School of Medicine’s Center for Biomedical Informatics and more than a dozen other departments.
A $400-million-dollar development, Gateway Research Park in Greensboro provides world-class laboratories and office space to businesses, universities and the local community. Tenants and partners utilize shared resources for technological growth, discovery and progress and Gateway’s premier campus also provides support to help turn cutting-edge intellectual property into thriving businesses in areas of life and physical science, engineering and other applied sciences.
Located at Gateway Research Park is the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering (JSNN), an academic collaboration between North Carolina A&T State University and The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. JSNN is working on leading-edge research projects in the nanoscience field and forging partnerships with scientists and researchers from industry, academia and government, working together to create impactful scientific research that drives change.
Notable Employers
