Since 2011, CUBEInC has supported partnerships that transform medical research into commercial and life-changing applications
If these walls could talk, they might divulge the secrets to better care for kidney disease, neurological disorders or chronic wounds. Celebrating its 15th year in 2026, the Clemson University Biomedical Engineering Innovation Campus (CUBEInC) is much more than a building of walls, labs and high-tech equipment. It’s a living ecosystem where bioengineers and health care clinicians work side by side to share and test novel ideas that shape the way providers care for patients and health systems manage operations.
The facility spans 31,000 square feet at the Prisma Health-Upstate Patewood Memorial Medical Campus in Greenville, South Carolina. Launched in 2011 with support from state, industry and health care partners, CUBEInC serves as a bridge from novel research to clinical application to commercial translation. CUBEInC is home to biomedical companies spawned from Clemson and elsewhere, and the undergraduate and graduate students who have learned in these labs have become uniquely qualified to lead South Carolina’s burgeoning life sciences sector into the future.
“The timeframe to move from lab to bedside is immense. Drug delivery, from patent disclosure to patient use, can take more than a decade,” said CUBEInC director Melinda Harman. “Our connection with Prisma aids this long process. Improving health care in South Carolina requires lasting commitment and dedication of our researchers, students and Prisma clinicians.”
Since its opening, CUBEInC has developed into a hub for partnerships between Clemson, Prisma Health and biomedical companies. These partnerships are the foundation of the facility’s transformational success. By moving technologies and treatments from labs to real-world environments, CUBEInC will continue to foster innovations in health care for patients across the region and nation.
CUBEInC Cadence Count
2011 year CUBEInC was founded
10 large labs in the facility
20 additional workrooms
$16M from the state, Clemson and private partners was used to establish CUBEInC
30,100 square feet at Greenville-based Prisma Health-Upstate Patewood Memorial Medical Campus
$25.7B annual economic impact as the state’s fastest-growing sector, according to the South Carolina Department of Commerce
18 past and present medical tenants
Former CUBEinC tenants
| CreatiVasc Medical LLC | Vascular technologies to address issues with kidney dialysis. Merged into Brookhaven Medical Inc. in 2015. |
| BioD LLC | Regenerative medicine for orthopedic and other care. Acquired by Derma Sciences for $21.3 million in 2016. |
| Derma Sciences Inc. | Regenerative medicine for wound treatment. Acquired by Integra LifeSciences for $200 million in 2017. |
| Precision Genetics | Personalized medicine using patient genetics. The Greenville, South Carolina-based business received $1 million in 2024 from InvestSC. |
| Zylö Therapeutics | Innovative drug delivery systems. The firm announced a $5 million investment in 2022 to support research and manufacturing operations in Greenville, South Carolina. |
| Moterum Technologies | Medical devices to improve the quality of life of stroke and heart disease patients. Established operations in Salt Lake City. |
| Tao Life Sciences | Early-stage medical technology development and investment. Unknown. S.C. Secretary of State lists a dissolved date of 2018 |
| CareCam | Point-of-care data selection system. Began doing business as New Oceans Health Solutions in 2017. |
| New Oceans Health Solutions | Personalized digital coaching system for health plan members. Formerly CareCam. Now headquartered in Pennsylvania. |
| PinPoint Molecular | Genetic testing for personalized medicine. Unknown. |
| Kiyatec Inc. | Technology to predict cancer patient response to specific therapies. Expanded to Greenville, South Carolina, and has space downtown. |
| Diaxamed LLC | Arteriovenous access system for dialysis patients. |
Current CUBEinC Tenants
| Samaritan Biologics | Developing therapeutics derived from living organisms. Established manufacturing operations in Greenville, South Carolina. |
| VRM Labs | Creating long-lasting disinfection solutions to curb hospital-acquired infections. Undergoing clinical testing. Led by Alexey Vertegel, associate professor of bioengineering. |
| Annoviant | Developing soft-tissue healing technologies. Exploring applications for cardiovascular repair. Led by Naren Vyavahare, the Hunter Endowed Chair of Bioengineering. |
| Elastrin Therapeutics | Developing targeted therapy that dissolves calcified deposits to improve vascular function. Led by Naren Vyavahare, the Hunter Endowed Chair of Bioengineering. |
| NeuroHope Therapeutics | Developing a local, sustained drug-delivery system to treat spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries. Led by Ken Webb, professor of bioengineering, and Jeoung Soo Lee, the Gilpin MD ’82 Distinguished Professor of Bioengineering. |
| Blotting Innovations | Developing a novel technique for detecting proteins in samples, a process common in research and diagnostics. Led by Marc Birtwistle, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and bioengineering. |
Zylö Therapeutics
Today, Zylö Therapeutics and its two sister spinoff companies offer novel drug delivery systems for the treatment of wounds, hair loss, lupus lesions and other ailments. But in 2018, Zylö was just an idea born in a university lab.
Founder and CEO Scott Pancoast had licensed technology from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine that serves as a sort of patchless skin patch. Think of a nicotine patch but made with nearly invisible silica particles that can be applied through a cream or foam. Those particles can carry and slowly release a chosen active ingredient for various medical treatments. That slow release is key to the ingredient’s efficacy.
In 2017, after relocating from San Diego to Greenville, South Carolina, to be closer to his college son, Pancoast needed a lab to test applications of this Z-pod® technology and to study ways to manufacture the product at scale. He found CUBEInC.
“That experience at CUBEInC has a lot of great stories,” Pancoast said. “We got to meet a lot of professors, and we had a Clemson master’s student, Clay Tucker, as an intern who conducted research with us as part of his thesis project. We liked him so much we hired him. He is still with us five years later.”
Zylö has graduated beyond CUBEInC, established its own lab and manufacturing operation in Greenville, and helped spawn two additional startup biomedical companies, Atticus Pharma in Greenville and Finch Pharma in Charleston, South Carolina.
“CUBEInC is awesome in so many ways,” Pancoast said. “It’s very, very high-end space and you get to hobnob with professors, students and peers, all pursuing leading-edge technologies.”
NeuroHope Therapeutics Inc.
Offering hope to those in need: That’s the slogan at NeuroHope Therapeutics Inc. and the inspiration for co-founder Jeoung Soo Lee, the John Witherspoon Gilpin MD ’82 Distinguished Professor of Bioengineering at Clemson.
Throughout her research career, Lee has met numerous patients with traumatic cord injuries: an 18-year-old who hurt himself diving headfirst into a shallow swimming pool, a father of seven who fell from a tree, a graduate student injured in a car accident, and a young man injured while scuba diving.
“These people I met are incredibly positive and determined — all hoping to walk again,” Lee said. “Their enthusiasm and perseverance continue to inspire me.”
Currently, there are no medicinal treatments for spinal cord injuries, but Lee is working to change that. She has developed a novel drug delivery system that uses polymeric nanoparticles to transport drugs and therapeutic nucleic acids directly to injured sites in the body. The patented PgP nanotechnology enables local and sustained drug release that has been shown in preclinical studies to reduce inflammation, restore cellular health and improve motor function.
Lee established her lab at CUBEInC in 2012 and has since collaborated closely with Prisma clinicians, including Dr. Michael Lynn, a neurosurgeon at Prisma Health-Upstate. She was recently appointed a Faculty Fellow in the Clemson University School of Health Research to advance her collaboration with Prisma Health clinical mentors, allowing her to closely observe patient care following spinal cord injury and other forms of neurotrauma.
Currently, NeuroHope is working to advance its research and an Investigational New Drug (IND) application with the Federal Drug Administration. Once NeuroHope receives IND approval, the company can begin clinical trials.
“I want to help people,” Lee said. “That’s what drives everything we do.”
VRM Labs
Alexey Vertegel’s VRM Labs found success in the agriculture market by developing a natural specialty chemical to prevent pest and fungal infestations in crops. The company has a manufacturing facility in Fountain Inn, South Carolina, that produces more than 30 tons of the product a year.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vertegel, an associate professor of bioengineering at Clemson, began considering health applications for his product. The pandemic had stressed supplies of surface sanitizers, and most products on the market only reduce microbial counts on surfaces for six hours after application. Vertegel’s team is testing a longer-term solution with a mix of chitosan and ethanol that shows potential to prevent microbial contamination for up to three days after treatment, thus reducing the risk of infections acquired in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and other health care facilities.
Chitosan is derived from shrimp shells and works as a potent antimicrobial against viruses, bacteria and fungi. In VRM’s disinfectant, chitosan also serves as an adhesive, forming a long-lasting protective film on frequently touched surfaces.
At CUBEInC, VRM is able to test its product and work closely with Prisma Health, which has served as a collaborator on the company’s federally sponsored research. VRM has clinical trials of its disinfection product at Prisma and the Cleveland Clinic as it works on EPA regulatory approvals.
“We wanted to work with Prisma because they are close, they are qualified, and they are easy to work with,” said Vertegel.
Over 15 years, our work with CUBEInC has accelerated medical technologies and built a sustainable model for growth — advancing breakthroughs in health care right here in South Carolina.
