West Palm Beach, FLA – The Business Development Board of Palm Beach County (BDB), in cooperation with the State of Florida, Palm Beach County and the Town of Jupiter, is pleased to announce that BlinkBio Inc., a privately held, biotechnology company, has relocated from Long Island, NY to Palm Beach County and has entered into a Use Agreement with The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI).
“The Scripps team laid out a compelling case for their strong Institutional commitment to supporting an emerging Biotech Cluster. Coupled with the impressive achievements of both local and state governments in recruiting both TSRI and Max Planck, two world class research institutes to Jupiter – and the existing core Biotech infrastructure already present - provided a compelling basis from which to consider relocation” stated Colin Goddard Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BlinkBio “We were also impressed with the regional commitment to the industry, the favorable tax environment in the State and the appropriately modest but practically targeted incentives – all of which paved the way for our relocation decision. The finalization of these incentives coincides with the recently completed first closing on a planned ~$11 million Series A financing for BlinkBio which recapitalizes the company upon completing proof-of-concept research on the Company’s SiLinker platform. We look forward to becoming an active member of the Florida bioscience community while raising further capital and seeking corporate and academic partnerships as we pursue our goal of developing novel Antibody and Small Molecule Drug Conjugates (ADCs and SMDCs) for the treatment of Oncology and other diseases”.
Kelly Smallridge, President and CEO of the Business Development Board (BDB) of Palm Beach County said, “BlinkBio is committed to creating new therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and other life threatening conditions including autoimmune diseases and the agreement with TSRI provides access to the Institute’s world-class facilities and services and creates an ideal environment for the exploration of the kind of win:win collaborative partnerships that can lead to value creating transactions and new company formation”
“Florida is home to one of the nation’s largest biotech R&D industries and we’re excited to welcome BlinkBio to South Florida’s strong life sciences cluster,” said Crystal Sircy, Enterprise Florida Executive Vice President and COO. “BlinkBio is an important addition to the industry expertise available in the state, and they will no doubt benefit from Florida’s workforce and the highly-skilled talent our universities continue to produce annually.”
“BlinkBio Inc. is a great example of the type of company the Town of Jupiter had in mind when it first created its economic development fund in 2006,” said Town of Jupiter Mayor, Todd Wodraska. “Their impressive research and progress in the cancer treatment space, strong and experienced management team, and relationship with TSRI all make them a perfect fit for the Jupiter bioscience community.”
The company will occupy 1800 square feet at 130 Scripps Way, Jupiter, FL 33458. Over time BlinkBio anticipates making a capital investment of over $1,650,000 and expects to hire 25 new employees with an average wage of $94,880.
About BlinkBio Inc. and the SiLinker Platform
Blink Bio is a Jupiter, Florida based biotech company which was formed to exploit Bioorthogonal Linker (“BLink”) chemistries for the discovery and development of novel drug conjugate therapeutics in the treatment of oncology and other diseases. The development of antibody (ADC) and small molecule based drug conjugates (SMDC) has provided a valuable contribution in the treatment of cancer by enabling the targeted delivery of toxic therapeutics (“payloads”) inside cancer cells. However, there remains room for significant improvement in the components that make up drug conjugate therapies: the cancer cell targeting piece (antibodies in ADCs and small molecule ligands in SMDCs); the cleavable linkers that connect these to payloads for delivery; and, the payloads themselves. At BlinkBio we are assembling a proprietary suite of assets that will allow the development of fully tunable drug conjugates in order to achieve an optimal Therapeutic Index (TI) – delivering powerful anti-cancer medicines inside the tumor cell and within the tumor microenvironment while minimizing toxicities to the patient. Over the last several years we have demonstrated the favorable characteristics of our proprietary Silicon based linker chemistries in the development of a unique SiLinker and Payload Cassette platform for incorporation into novel drug conjugates. Our business strategy is focused on developing selected novel drug conjugates through clinical development while seeking partnerships with major pharmaceutical and biotech companies to broaden the utility and application of these technologies in improving treatment outcomes for patients worldwide. For more information, visit www.blinkbioinc.com.
