New Orleans biotech company expands to Charleston with $660K investment

A biomedical company opened its first East Coast operation in Charleston on Thursday.

New Orleans-headquartered Obatala Sciences is leasing a lab inside the Medical University of South Carolina’s new Blue Sky Labs, a rentable space for students, researchers and entrepreneurs.

The company pledged to employ 46 people and invest nearly $660,000 in its operations.

It is looking for biologists, bio technicians and those with biotechnology degrees to manufacture stem cells, lab-grown tissue replicas and other biomaterials. The company will pay average wages of $46 per hour.

“Obatala Sciences was founded to change the way new therapies are discovered, tested and translated for patients. Expanding into Charleston County through our partnership with MUSC and Blue Sky Labs gives us access to an extraordinary innovation ecosystem and creates a meaningful bridge between our New Orleans headquarters and South Carolina’s growing life sciences community,” CEO Trivia Frazier said in a statement. “Just as importantly, this partnership helps answer a national call to scale domestic advanced biomanufacturing capacity for high-value biotechnology products.”

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The company’s products help with the testing and development of new drugs and treatments for diseases such as obesity, diabetes and cancer.

“Obatala’s investment in the Palmetto State will support South Carolina’s ongoing growth in the life sciences sector,” Secretary of Commerce Harry Lightsey said in a statement.

“Their plans at Blue Sky Labs and partnership with MUSC demonstrate the value of having world-class research, clinical expertise and entrepreneurial resources working together in our region,” added Will Russell, chairman of the Charleston Regional Development Alliance.