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September 28, 2007
8:30 a.m.
Board of Directors: Overland Park
MINUTES
Kansas Bioscience Authority
Board of Directors Meeting
Friday, September 28, 2007
Overland Park Convention Center
Overland Park, Kansas
Call to order: A sufficient quorum being present, the meeting was called to order at 8:35 a.m. by Chairwoman Sandra Lawrence. Board members present were Dan Glickman, Robert Hemenway, Angela Kreps, Ed McKechnie, Bill Sanford, Ray Smilor and Jon Wefald. Present via teleconference was John Carlin. Others present were Tom Thornton, Janice Katterhenry and Melissa Lynch from the KBA; Jason Gertzen (Kansas City Star); Rich McKee (Kansas Livestock Association); Richard Lariviere (University of Kansas); Robert Krause (Kansas State University), Dan Richardson (Hill’s Pet Nutrition); Tracy Taylor and Linda Reinhardt (KTEC); Bill Junk (Kansas Environmental Management Associates); Frank Ross and Geoffrey Fasel (Polsinelli Shalton Flanigan Suelthaus).
Review and Approval of Minutes: Ms. Lawrence referred to the July 10, 2007, board meeting minutes. Mr. Sanford made a motion to approve; Mr. McKechnie seconded the motion. Ms. Lawrence called for a vote and the motion carried unanimously.
Financial Report: Ms. Katterhenry presented the August financial statements, receipt and disbursement reports and a summary of funds committed and paid.
President’s Report: Mr. Thornton presented the President’s Report. In addition to the information provided in the report, Mr. Thornton reported that the KBA has finalized and signed all legal documents related to the Olathe Bioscience Park.
Presentation of FY 2008 Annual Operating Plan, Operating Budget and Program Budget: Mr. Thornton gave an overview of the draft annual operating plan (AOP), operating budget and program budget. He provided a synopsis of each focus area. Mr. McKechnie asked Mr. Thornton to develop an overview of the University of Kansas Cancer Center’s efforts to pursue National Cancer Institute designation as a cancer center and requested that a board meeting be scheduled to better understand this opportunity.
In the context of the KBA’s efforts to pursue the National Bio and Agro-defense Facility, Mr. Thornton introduced a new program called the Collaborative Biosecurity Research Initiative and asked that the AOP be amended to allocate $2.5 million in FY2008 to fund this program. This new program will introduce the unique biosecurity research capabilities and facilities at Kansas State University to investigators nationally and develop strategic alliances that will allow animal and public health threats to be confronted promptly and effectively by leveraging multidisciplinary expertise. This program will allow academic, federal agency and nonprofit researchers to collaborate with K-State scientists to perform research not possible at their home institutions. Mr. Sanford asked the maximum award size be increased to $500,000.
After discussion regarding partnering with the Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation on Heartland BioVentures, Mr. Sanford requested asked Mr. Thornton to develop an operating plan for the program for review by the finance and investment committee.
Mr. Thornton was asked to present an update on the major activities of the AOP at the January board of directors meeting. Following discussion, a motion was made by Mr. Sanford to adopt the annual operating plan, operating budget, and program budget; seconded by Mr. McKechnie. Ms. Lawrence called for a vote, and the motion carried unanimously.
FY 2008 Board of Directors Meeting Schedule: Ms. Lawrence pointed out that the proposed dates and locations for FY2008 meetings were included in the board book.
Committee Reports:
Executive Committee: Ms. Lawrence said the executive committee had met twice since the last board meeting. She reported that the committee had given her the authority to offer and execute a new employment agreement with the KBA’s president and chief executive officer, Tom Thornton.
Audit Committee: Ms. Kreps reported that the audit committee accepted the report of the KBA’s FY2007 audited financial statements and management letter prepared by Allen, Gibbs & Houlik, LC. A copy of the report and letter has been given to each board member. Ms. Lawrence called for a motion to approve the audit; seconded by Dr. Smilor. Ms. Lawrence called for a vote, and the motion carried unanimously.
Governance Committee: Mr. McKechnie reported that last week he and Mr. Thornton testified before the Joint Committee on Economic Development.
Finance and Investment Committee: Dr. Smilor reported the committee met on September 17th and approved the following investment recommendations for consideration by the board of directors:
Kansas State University (KSU) has submitted a letter of intent requesting financial assistance to attract Juergen Richt, DVM, PhD, a world-class animal health researcher, to the institution. Dr. Richt, lead scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Animal Disease Center and an adjunct professor at Iowa State University, will be joining Kansas State University as a Regents Distinguished Professor. Richt's appointment begins in April 2008. A motion was made by Mr. Sanford to advance KSU’s application to an independent panel of evaluators to assess Dr. Richt's qualifications as an Eminent Scholar; seconded by Mr. McKechnie. Dr. Smilor called for a vote, and the motion was carried unanimously.
Lenexa-based Remel is a subsidiary of Thermo Fisher Scientific, a global manufacturer and provider of a wide range of high-quality microbiology products used in clinical, industrial, research, and academic laboratories. Remel manufactures and markets 6,000 products to over 3,000 customers. Remel requests up to $1.25 million under the Expansion and Attraction Program to renovate its existing Lenexa office in order to expand operations. A motion was made by Ms. Lawrence to approve the investment and seconded by Mr. Sanford. Dr. Smilor called for a vote, and the motion carried unanimously.
CritiTech manufactures fine-particle pharmaceuticals through a process known as precipitation with compressed antisolvent (PCA). Fine-particle pharmaceuticals are useful to enhance delivery of poorly water-soluble drugs, for control of particle size for pulmonary delivery, to enhance uniformity of oral dosage forms, and for direct IV injection of nanoparticulate suspensions. The company requests $264,048 under the Bioscience Tax Investment Incentive Program to support the company’s investigational new drug application for Nanotax. Mr. Sanford disclosed that the CEO of CritiTech is a member of an investment group that has made a small investment in Nanoscale. Ms. Kreps disclosed that CritiTech is a member of KansasBio of which she is president. A motion was made by Ms. Lawrence to approve the investment and seconded by Mr. McKechnie. Dr. Smilor called for a vote, and the motion carried unanimously.
Kansas Environmental Management Associates (KEMA) has been leading an effort in conjunction with the Advanced Manufacturing Institute (AMI) of Kansas State University to address the growing concern of excess nutrient level accumulation on farmland, specifically, phosphorous accumulation. The purpose of the company’s $312,500 request under the Research and Development Voucher application is to collaborate with the AMI to develop, construct, and operate a farm-scale phosphorous recovery system to remove up to 75 percent of the phosphorous from cattle feedlot lagoon water. A motion was made by Ms. Lawrence to approve the investment and seconded by Ms. Kreps. Dr. Smilor called for a vote, and the motion carried unanimously.
Adjournment: Though being no further business, Ms. Lawrence called for the meeting to be adjourned at 11:35 a.m.
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