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Cancer Center Brings Job Opportunities

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KENNETH KNIGHT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 5, 2008

NORTH TAMPA - Construction of a groundbreaking cancer research center expected to create an estimated 165 high-paying science jobs is well under way near the University of South Florida.

Construction workers wheeling heavy equipment kicked up clouds of dust this week at the site of M2Gen, a joint venture of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer & Research Institute and drugmaker Merck & Co., at 10902 N. Malcolm McKinley Drive.

"You can see the first of four floors going up," Rick Garrison, chief operating officer at M2Gen, said Tuesday.

The builder, Skanska USA, broke ground in January on the 100,000-square-foot research and biotech building designed by the architectural firm of Reynolds, Smith and Hill. The building is expected to be completed by April, Garrison said.

Company officials hope to fill 100 positions in time for the grand opening. The remaining jobs will be added within four years, he said. The average salary will be about $80,000.

Moffitt and Merck are collaborating on a project to build a tumor-tissue database, with which tailor-made therapy would be created for each patient.

Garrison said the city of Tampa, Hillsborough County and the state are major contributors to create M2Gen, a for-profit subsidiary of Moffitt.

Working in conjunction with former Gov. Jeb Bush, Tampa and Hillsborough County officials put together an incentive package to draw the complex to Tampa. Pasco County also competed for the center.

Hillsborough County chipped in $28 million; the state has invested $15 million; and the city of Tampa contributed $800,000, plus $1.2 million in land donation for M2Gen. Merck plans to contribute more than $90 million.

If the venture is successful in developing new cancer drug products, Moffitt is likely to emerge as a leader in the field of personalized medicine. State and local officials have predicted an economic benefit for the Tampa Bay area of as much as $1 billion in four years.

Garrison is pleased with the company's success.

"Any milestone set out for us, we have met," he said. "We are right on schedule for the number of tissues we have collected and number of employees."

Garrison said research is under way in Hillsborough County, including at St. Joseph's Hospital and medical centers in Clearwater, Lakeland, Sarasota, Tallahassee, Boca Raton and Martin County.

"We are expanding outside of the state, and we are talking to a few international sites," he added.

The company has collected nearly 6,000 tissue samples and has received consent from more than 11,000 patients for tissue donations, according to the company Web site.

Researchers are collecting tumor tissues from Floridians to identify biological markers unique to each tumor.

"We are building on the concept that certain drugs work for one individual and not another," Garrison said.

M2Gen is the latest major investment in an area once the site of an airstrip, a city dump and large manufacturing companies. It is anticipated to be the cornerstone of related economic development in the Tampa Bay area.

"It's kind of a gateway to Busch Gardens," said Kristen Carson, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Transportation, referring to the stretch of North McKinley Drive. "I think that has something to do with the popularity of the road."

The FDOT's district headquarters is across the street from the M2Gen site. Carson also noted that the Florida Highway Patrol is located on McKinley Drive next to the FDOT headquarters.

The Lodge, a luxury apartment complex catering to USF students, recently opened next to the M2Gen property.

M2Gen takes up about 5 acres of the 34-acre parcel owned by Moffitt, Garrison said.

Reporter Kenneth Knight can be reached at (813) 731-3612 or kknight@tampatrib.com.

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