Scripps on the Atlantic

The California-based Scripps Research Institute will extend its presence to the East Coast by opening a new annex in Palm Beach, Florida. An exact location has yet to be announced for the planned 364,000–square-foot facility, scheduled for opening in 2006 and expected to cost $140 million, with $50 million in scientific equipment.

"We're very excited about expanding the basic medical research we do here in La Jolla," Scripps spokesman Keith McKeown told The Scientist. "If there's anything that would be different about what we do, it's that there might be a bit more emphasis on drug development, because that is what Governor Jeb Bush is interested in doing in Florida—jumpstarting the biomedical, biotechnology, and pharmaceutical industries."

The October 9 announcement came after 4 months of discussion with Florida officials, McKeown said.

Scripps is the largest private nonprofit research organization in the United States, with a roughly $280 million operating...