The Illinois Science + Technology Park Reinvents Life Sciences

Susan Du

The 23-acre park is devoted to bioscience technologies.

Once the site of the second-largest pharmaceutical company in the Chicago area, the Illinois Science + Technology Park in Skokie was founded six years ago in efforts to rejuvenate life science research in the state. Today, it aims to be the site where cutting edge nanotechnologies thrive.

The Science + Technology Park currently has 23 tenants. Some, like Japanese Astellas Pharma, are international moguls while others are startups that spun off from nearby Northwestern University.

The companies work in close proximity to each other in a scientific community. According to Michael Rosen, ForestCity Science + Technology Group senior vice president, “the goal was to transform the park into a university-type campus.” By concentrating large numbers of life science companies and the like-minded thinkers who fuel their operations, ForestCity hopes to transform Illinois into “an economic engine for bioscience technologies.”

The Park: History and Vision

ForestCity Science + Technology Group is the real estate developer for The Illinois Science + Technology Park today, where it continues to reconstruct the largest life science hub in the Chicago metropolitan area according to the needs of its tenants.

“Just as it takes a village to raise a child, we believe it takes a biotech village to raise a biotech company,” Rosen said.

However, when ForestCity first purchased the park in 2005, all 1.3 million square feet of it had been sitting empty for two years. With no one left to speak of its scientific legacy, ForestCity needed to dust off the park and jumpstart operations.

Lab work conducted at G. D. Searle. Photo courtesy of ForestCity Science + Technology Group.

The actual facilities date back to the ‘40s, when it was the gated corporate headquarters of pharmaceutical giant G.D. Searle. Business continued as Monsanto acquired the company in 1985 and European Pharmacia acquired Monsanto-Searle in 1998. However, when Pfizer purchased the park in 2003, it laid off all Searle employees in Chicago, officially retiring the Searle brand.

Nearly 2,500 Chicago area jobs disappeared overnight and the park sat empty until 2005, when Pfizer opened it up to real estate developers. Their primary concern was that it be preserved as a scientific community.

When ForestCity acquired the site for $43 million, it helped the park transition from a closed campus to an open one. Since then, ForestCity has overseen massive renovations and actively leased space for various science companies which hired approximately 1,250 employees, including many former Searle workers.

“We’ve grown phenomenally well,” Rosen said. “We’re not quite at the level of Searle at its peak, but we’ve brought back about 65 percent of all scientific jobs.”

ForestCity is currently trying to attract more pharmaceutical and life science companies to fill the four buildings on its campus. Once the park is completely updated, Rosen said he expects there to be an additional five buildings for a total of 2 million square feet. and about 5,000 employees.

The Science: Nanotechnology Transforms Heath Services

While many companies specializing in various life science concentrations operate in Skokie, what really sets the Illinois Science + Technology Park apart from other science conglomerates across the nation is its emphasis on nanotechnology innovation.

Skokie nanotechnology companies include Nanotope, NanoInk and NanoIntegris, which currently develop products for medicinal, technological and educational purposes. They are based on technologies invented by Northwestern researchers but have been innovated for practical use by entrepreneurs.

Photo courtesy of NanoInk.

Applying nanotechnology to life sciences could make health services more cost-efficient, create more humane animal testing practices and produce more sensitive medical devices.

Nanotope specializes in regenerative medicine, which centers on molecules that are capable of directing surviving cells to replenish damaged tissue. Its “smart” nanofiber gel products may be injected into injured areas to kickstart cell regrowth.

Nanotope’s products have been used for medical treatments such as wound healing and bone and cartilage regeneration.

NanoInk specializes in creating “nano”-sized structures for life sciences through the use of a process called Dip Pen Nanolithography, an exceptionally precise method of making exceptionally tiny constructs.

Or, as CEO James Hussey said, “We print things.”

Though nanolithography has been in practice for decades, NanoInk’s Dip Pen tip is about 8,500 times smaller than the industry standard inkjet nozzle tip.

This technology may be used to take more accurate blood and tissue samples for tumor biopsies and regular checkups. In particular, elderly patients who require having their blood drawn frequently to monitor drug effects may benefit from finger-prick blood tests rather than venous puncture (which may result in multiple failed attempts).

Also, NanoInk’s security technology may be used to encrypt individual pills so that they are trackable anywhere in the world, thereby countering illegal drug counterfeiting, trafficking and abuse.

“As with all security businesses, we just don’t talk about it,” Hussey explained NanoInk’s policy on discussing their drug encryption technologies. “We just say yeah, it’s there. Thank you.”

NanoIntegris specializes in creating high quality nanotubes, which are used in a variety of optical electronics today including the common LCD display, infrared sensors (used by the military) and chemical sensors (used for biohazard screening and explosives detection).

The Future of Nanotech in Illinois

Kira Foken, sales and marketing manager for NanoIntegris, said Skokie is a prime location for the company because there is great lab space.

“Second of all, we wanted to stay in Chicago because we think there’s a lot of good talent here but not necessarily that much development,” she said. “There are good universities in the area and good research being done.”

However, NanoInk’s Hussey said he thinks more can be done at the universities to train undergraduates and not only graduates in nanotechnology so that Illinois can transform itself into a hub for nanotechnology companies.

“Illinois has an opportunity right now because of our location and our research process to own nanotechnology companies,” Hussey said. “We can have a cluster here. We need to have it here. We should own nanotech.”