Gene Therapy Finds a Fertile Home in Ohio

The midwestern state has quietly laid the groundwork for a biotech hub.

Written byShawna Williams

| 9 min read

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ABOVE: Sarepta research associate Kaitlin Adegboye stains muscle cryosections for analysis.
© SAREPTA THERAPEUTICS

Sarepta Therapeutics’s outpost in Ohio occupies a collection of offices and labs on the second floor of a large, squat structure known as “Building 4” in a business park outside of Columbus. Despite the facility’s unassuming exterior, the start of research onsite here in spring 2019 marked a milestone in Ohio’s two-decade-long march toward becoming a gene therapy hub. “We’re making a very significant commitment and investment in Columbus,” Doug Ingram, the CEO of Cambridge, Massachusetts–based Sarepta, told Columbus Business First in an article about the new division. “There is a real chance Columbus, Ohio, could become the most important place in the world for gene therapy development.”

We’ve helped prove the concept that gene therapy can actually go from bench to bedside.

With its Ohio research center, Sarepta joins a local gene therapy ecosystem. Bolstered by ...

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Meet the Author

Shawna Williams
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Shawna was an editor at The Scientist from 2017 through 2022. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Colorado College and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Previously, she worked as a freelance editor and writer, and in the communications offices of several academic research institutions. As news director, Shawna assigned and edited news, opinion, and in-depth feature articles for the website on all aspects of the life sciences. She is based in central Washington State, and is a member of the Northwest Science Writers Association and the National Association of Science Writers.
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