Over the past year and a half, the Medical University of South Carolina has implemented its Innovation District along Calhoun Street. It has lab space and other resources for medical innovators. MUSC, medtech startups and others are growing the Palmetto State’s life sciences sector.
In 2024, leading sectors of our state’s economy —information technology, automotive and aerospace-aviation— exceeded $8 billion in capital invested in South Carolina. These are intellectual property-intensive economic sectors.
Startups and early-stage firms also contribute to South Carolina’s growth industries. One example of homegrown innovation and commercialization is the invention a radiologist assistant at MUSC made. While undergoing a procedure, the child kept having a problem. A leaky catheter caused the routine procedure to take twice as long.
That dangerous complication led to the invention of a double-balloon catheter. Cephus Simmons has pursued entrepreneurship, launching SealCath, his company based in Mount Pleasant.
Another example is KIYATEC in Greenville. The cancer drug-testing invention out of Clemson accurately predicts which cancer medicine is best for a given patient. The bioengineer grad student who invented this technology founded KIYATEC to commercialize his invention.
The personalized medicine KIYATEC offers shows promise for maximizing a medicine’s effectiveness and minimizing risks such as harmful side effects. This will improve clinical outcomes.
The focus on facilitating creative endeavor isn’t new here. South Carolina has long played important roles in American innovation, as my new book, “To Invent Is Divine,” highlights. Fostering human creativity plays a central part in our state’s economic health and expansion.
One interesting piece of history comes from a sermon Bishop Robert Smith, rector of St. Philip’s Church and founder of the College of Charleston, preached in 1779. His text was Psalm 90:9. Smith preached on the tale the end of one’s life tells. He contrasted the lives of the noble and the ignoble.
Smith counted patriots, inventors and faithful Christians among the “real heroes.”“[W]ho does not consider with sincere esteem, and bestows their warmest approbation, on those who have advanced the useful Arts and Sciences, or contributed to the support of true virtue and religion?”
This shows how much inventors and creators were gaining cultural status here in the colonial era. It also foreshadows the high regard iconic American inventors enjoyed in the next century.
In 1784 during the period of the Articles of Confederation, South Carolina enacted what the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine calls “the first systematized patent provision in America.” This state law was unique because it “closely coupled patent protection with copyright protection.”
South Carolina statesman Charles Pinckney went to Philadelphia prepared and actively engaged in the Confederation Congress’s proceedings. Pinckney took along an outline for overhauling the Articles.
Pinckney worked closely with James Madison during the deliberations. The two men proposed adding a provision to the draft Constitution empowering Congress to enact patent and copyright laws. Their proposal was widely supported and unanimously accepted.
The Palmetto State’s intellectual property statute became the model adopted in 1787 as Article I, section 8, clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution. Notably, the terms useful arts and sciences used in Smith’s 1779 sermon were employed in clause 8.
South Carolina’s notable contribution to our fledgling nation has incentivized individual creativity and discovery of new, useful inventions. The key is its securing exclusive private property rights for a limited period.
“To Invent Is Divine” explores how creativity and ownership together result in human flourishing. This adds to the body of knowledge, extends technological progress, creates wealth and improves the human condition.
As the United States celebrates 250 years of independence, we should appreciate South Carolina’s important contributions to America’s innovation culture and the foundation of today’s technological and economic progress.
James R. Edwards Jr. is founder and CEO of ELITE Strategic Services, based in Mount Pleasant, and author of “To Invent Is Divine: Creativity and Ownership” (Fidelis, 2025). His book is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other book sellers.