OHSU's Florida project lands millions in incentives

The Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute -- a branch of the Oregon Health & Science University launching a site in Port St. Lucie, Fla. -- has signed a deal with Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's office to get $15 million in state incentives in the coming weeks.

OHSU must finalize certain last-minute details before it receives the money, however, and must meet job targets and other benchmarks in exchange for accepting Florida economic development funds. Otherwise it will have to repay financial incentives.

The new endeavor, dubbed VGTI Florida, represents OHSU's first foray into East Coast business. The Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute was established in 2001 by Oregon Health & Science University, and has about 90 employees. Its research mission centers around viral infectious diseases and vaccine development.

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OHSU's Florida-based institute will use the $15 million to pay for startup costs in Port St. Lucie. The institute is recruiting a chief operating officer and researchers, the Palm Beach Post reports. In all, VGTI Florida is getting $60 million over four years from the Florida's Innovation Incentive Fund, the majority of which will go toward recruiting. Plus, Port St. Lucie and St. Lucie County gave the institute another $57.8 million in tax breaks and infrastructure work to lure it to the city. The OHSU institute aims to grow its capacity for human clinical trials at the Port St. Lucie site.

In the first two years, the institute is required to employ six people in Port St. Lucie, the Palm Beach Post reported. It must employ 30 workers in the third year, and 200 at the end of 10 years.

The university has yet to sign a final deal with a site developer in Florida for the 130,000-square-foot building it expects to build near the city's other major biotech institute, the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies.