Oct. 23, 2006 — The Pellissippi Research Center, a new 45-acre park in the Knoxville-Oak Ridge Innovation Valley region, announced that its first tenant will be Molecular Pathology Laboratory Network (MPLN). The Maryville- based molecular diagnostic company will build a new 70,000-square-foot, state- of-the-art laboratory on a promontory in the new park.

MPLN president Roger Hubbard said he expects MPLN to increase from about 100 employees to 500 professionals within the next five to ten years. He said most of the new hires would have Master’s, MD or Ph.D. degrees.

Nearby Oak Ridge National Laboratory has undergone a resurgence, especially in the area of materials science, with a Department of Energy investment of nearly $2 billion in nano-, bio- and information technology assets.

The Innovation Valley is also home to numerous industrial parks and incubator facilities including the Horizon and Heritage Center, a proposed Innovation Valley Science and Technology Park at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and a new business incubator planned on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville.