Pelican Life Sciences To Launch Lab At N.C. Research Campus

, a startup backed by $100 million in equity commitments, will staff a research and development facility at the new

North Carolina Research Campus

being constructed in Kannapolis.

Pelican is based in Huntersville, near Charlotte. The company was formally launched last December.

The N.C. Research Campus is actively recruiting companies, researchers and other tenants for the $1 billion projected backed by billionaire David Murdock.

In August, the BioMarker Group in Winston-Salem announced it would relocate to the Kannapolis complex.

“We’re very happy to be in business with Pelican Life Sciences,” said Clyde Higgs, vice president of business development for the Research Campus. “We continue to reach out and find success with exciting companies like Pelican Life Sciences in the medical devices, diagnostics, health and wellness and agri-bio tech fields.”

Pelican has acquired several different companies since its launch. It is focused on microbiology consumables, molecular biology consumables and life science reagents.

“Pelican embraces the visionary concepts put forth by David Murdock and the North Carolina Research Campus and sought to be a valued contributor to the creative community envisioned,” said Bill Baugh III, the chief executive officer of Pelican Life Sciences. “The location of the research campus means that a core component of Pelican’s research and development efforts will be located within 20 miles of Pelican’s corporate headquarters.”

Baugh ran a boutique investment firm before founding Pelican. He also served as president of global laboratory products for Fisher Scientific International and worked at Nucor for 10 years.

Jeff Leathe is president of Pelican. Leathe is a former chief financial officer of Apogent Technologies.

Pelican will base between five and 10 researchers in Kannapolis, according to the Research Campus.

Financial backers of Pelican include Grotech Capital Group and Ferrer, Freeman and Company.