The KBA’s customized support services help address fundamental strategic issues critical to the success of emerging Kansas bioscience enterprises.
The KBA regularly hosts and presents bioscience and related industry training, conferences and networking events. Check out the calendar.
Since the Kansas Bioscience Authority was established in 2004, the organization has committed $272 million to nearly 90 bioscience companies and other institutions.
The Venture Accelerator is an incubator with space available to growing bioscience companies.
On Oct. 15, the KBA announced that since 2004, its investments have created 1,664 new jobs and millions of dollars in other outcomes.
“Attaining outcomes on this scale from KBA bioscience investments is a great achievement for the state of Kansas,” Dan Watkins, KBA board chairman, said. “We are proud to work with many partners in the state and region who contribute to the KBA’s goal of establishing bioscience as an economic engine in the state.
The University of Kansas Cancer Center has earned prestigious designation as a National Cancer Institute cancer center. University officials and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius announced the designation at the KU Medical Center on July 12.
“The National Cancer Institute has recognized our scientific excellence,” Roy Jensen, M.D., director of the center said, “and the designation validates what we already knew — that research conducted at the University of Kansas Cancer Center is already helping to eliminate the burden of cancer.”
University leaders praised the outpouring of support throughout the region for the effort to achieve NCI designation. In October 2011, the KBA surpassed $50 million in commitments in support of the effort, primarily for facilities and recruitments. The university estimated that since 2006, the NCI effort has created 1,123 jobs and contributed $453 million to the region’s economy.
The KBA board on July 24 approved more than $4.1 million in investments in Bayer Health Care of Shawnee, Heartland Plant Innovations of Manhattan, and the Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases at Kansas State University.