Apogee Biotechnology Corp., which discovers and develops new pharmaceutical agents for the treatment of chronic and life-threatening diseases, is relocating from Hershey, Pa., to Charleston.

Charles D. Smith, Apogee's president and CEO, was selected to fill MUSC's third endowed chair under the Centers of Economic Excellence program funded through the South Carolina Education Lottery. "It's an excellent opportunity to be involved in the drug discovery program at MUSC," Smith said of his appointment. "Not that many places have a warm climate, an ocean and excellent medical research all rolled into one. Plus, there seems to be a lot of commitment in MUSC's programs from the research community. There are a lot of factors that have come together to make this a good move for Apogee."

Apogee, founded in 2001, is funded by eight Small Business Innovation Research grants totaling $2.7 million from the National Institutes of Health. The company controls a portfolio of pending patents that describe several classes of novel compounds and their uses for the treatment of a variety of diseases. The primary focus is on the early stages of drug development, with the company out-licensing active agents for late-stage clinical development, production and marketing.

"We fully expect, as Dr. Smith does, that new intellectual property will be coming out, and we are delighted with his company's move to the area," said Robert Pozner, executive director of MUSC's Foundation for Research Development and director of technology transfer. "Apogee is a perfect model for what a small company or a start-up coming to the area should be doing: concentrating on the component it does well. Not everyone is going to become a Merck (pharmaceutical company). It's a better model for success to focus on your niche and grow in that."

The company intends to concentrate on early-stage development and is interested in discussing opportunities for accelerating the development of its technologies through research collaborations, partnering for product development and/or out-licensing. "Apogee is really a bridge for the pharmaceutical companies to come in at the final stage for manufacturing and distribution. We're not interested in that. We'd rather do the earlier aspects, taking them to proof-of-concept," Smith said.

The company has a better chance for growth by holding to its niche. "You shouldn't try to be everything. Utilize your strengths and let others utilize theirs," Smith said. "We'd rather the pharmaceutical companies do what they do best: come in on the later stage and do the marketing and distribution. We're focused on science."

Apogee's transition to Charleston is part of the overall plans for building a drug discovery program at MUSC. "One thing (MUSC) would like to do is utilize the endowed chair program to promote economic development in the area to increase the amount of biotech research going on. Drug discovery is a great intro into that," Smith said.

Smith will direct MUSC's new Drug Discovery Core with the goal of identifying and developing compounds with potential therapeutic value. His research interests center on the development of anticancer drugs, specifically for breast cancer. He is also interested in the development of compounds for HIV, acute renal failure, diabetic retinopathy and arthritis. "What I expect will happen (with the drug discovery program) will be a nice movement of intellectual property from MUSC to local biotechs and eventually out-licensed to the larger pharmaceuticals for marketing and distribution," Smith said.

Apogee will relocate by February, with part of the company remaining in Hershey. "We have nine employees, and some have ties to the Hershey area and chose to remain there. The discovery components of the company will move to Charleston," Smith said.

In the meantime, the company's greatest need is finding adequate wet lab space in the area, which Smith expects will be found in conjunction with other small biotech companies that also require wet labs. "Companies do better when there's a critical mass," he says. "They can play off of each other and share resources. It's a good way to grow a business, and Charleston is a good place for that sort of cooperative enterprise."