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Anatomy of a wet lab
By Shelia Watson
Contributing Writer
Bolstering the biotech industry in the Lowcountry requires several carefully planned components, most notably special laboratory space where biotech companies can do research and testing.
The special lab space, called a wet lab, offers researchers the ability to use liquids and gasses, both essential ingredients for a biotech company.
Although there are variations of wet labs depending on the exact type of research being done, the primary element that makes a wet lab different from any other type of lab is specialized plumbing running into and out of the area, hence the “wet” label.
“A wet lab has running water coming inside the work area, and there are disposal issues when you’re dealing with bio-waste products,” said Pearce Gilbert, president of Argolyn Bioscience Inc., a biotech company in North Charleston that conducts research on peptides.
“It has to be vented properly and able to handle odors properly. It’s not the same as general office space, so it’s not always feasible to have a wet lab just anywhere. You can’t set up shop in an office building unless it’s been designed for a wet lab,” he said.
Argolyn is primarily a chemistry lab working with lab organisms, Gilbert said.
“We have a walk-in refrigerator, warming incubators, warming rooms and autoclaves to kill specimens and clean the glassware,” he said.
Foster Jordan, executive director of
in vitro products for West Ashley-based Charles River Endosafe, said in addition to the standard lab equipment such as microscopes and centrifuges, its lab has cryogenic equipment for freeze-drying specimens, ovens, purified water systems, autoclaves, liquid nitrogen, special refrigerated storage facilities for biological samples, biomedical waste disposal and bio-safety cabinets.
The lab also has a backup generator system and specialized ventilation units pumping clean air into the labs, Jordan said.
“This air doesn’t circulate with air in the warehouse or the offices,” he said. “It has to pump in completely free of contaminants.”
The lab also has laminar flow hoods, which allow working with materials in a sterile environment to avoid contaminating the samples.
The labs at Charles River Endosafe cost approximately $200,000 each to build and about $300,000 to fully equip, Jordan said.
According to R&D Magazine’s lab design handbook, new lab space can cost $350 or more per square foot to build. The report noted that renovating old lab facilities can cost approximately 60% as much as new construction.
Most wet labs, Gilbert said, use more equipment than standard labs.
“There are a lot more fixtures and appliances, and a lot of what’s in there is sophisticated, costly equipment,” he said. “If you’re trying to renovate existing space, retrofitting could be very expensive.”
Don DeLuca Jr., president of D-Finitive, a company engaged in the study of cord blood stem cells, called the wet lab space D-Finitive uses at Charles River Endosafe’s facilities “world-class, state-of-the-art. If someone is looking to see what a high-tech wet lab should look like, this is it.”
Don DeLuca Sr., chairman of D-Finitive, priced wet labs even higher.
“If you’re going to be a startup biotech company, a major cost is going to be the lab,” he said. “And if you want it to be sophisticated, it’s going to cost more than a million dollars.”
Neighboring states see the importance of providing wet lab space and are taking the initiative to provide wet labs more quickly than South Carolina, and the Lowcountry in particular, he noted.
“They’re in the game and are providing wet lab space at discounted rates,” DeLuca Jr. said. “Many of the states in the East see how successful North Carolina was with bioscience. The states that have it set up are recruiting very heavily and are getting the companies.
“If you want to recruit biotech companies, it’s going to take investing in wet labs. It’s as simple as that.”
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