TOPEKA, Kan. — As part of its strategy to accelerate economic growth in Kansas’ areas of bioscience strength, the Kansas Bioscience Authority today moved forward with more than $4.4 million in new investments to advance the state’s national leadership in animal health, human health, and bioenergy. The KBA also joined with the University of Kansas at Kansas Bioscience Day at the Capitol to announce the successful attraction of eminent scholar Dr. David Volkin.
With $2.49 million in support from the KBA over five years, approved in November 2009, Dr. David Volkin joined the University of Kansas this month as the school’s second KBA eminent scholar. Volkin will direct and expand the Laboratory for Macromolecule and Vaccine Stabilization. He is a prominent pharmaceutical scientist and research and development manager with 20 years of experience in biopharmaceuticals and vaccines. Volkin came to KU from Centocor R&D, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.
Investments approved today by the KBA board of directors include the following:
The University of Kansas will receive $1.8 million over five years to support the work of KU’s third KBA eminent scholar, Dr. Rakesh Srivastava. Srivastava, who came from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, researches the molecular mechanisms of cancer cell growth and death and works to develop novel drugs that treat and prevent cancers. He brings National Cancer Institute (NCI) funding and is expected to play an important role in the University of Kansas Cancer Center’s quest for NCI designation.
TVAX Biomedical of Lenexa was awarded a $600,000 convertible note to support an FDA-approved phase I safety study for a patented brain cancer treatment that uses a patient’s own immune cells to fight the disease. The investment is expected to attract an additional $2 million in private capital investment.
Lawrence-based ReLive for Kids will receive $50,000 as a partial match to a $106,000 Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes of Health to further develop a cognitive-behavioral headache management system for teens.
A research team led by Kansas State University’s Dr. Jishu Shi was approved for $500,000 from the KBA’s Collaborative Biosecurity Research Initiative to develop novel vaccines to combat a serious viral disease threatening swine and swine production globally. The researchers will focus on the host immune response that protects some pigs from multiple strains of the disease, with particular focus on a super virulent Asian strain of the virus.
The product development group of AGCO in Hesston will receive $1.5 million as a partial match of a $5 million renewable energy R&D grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. The project’s focus is to provide feedstock economically and reliably to cellulosic biorefineries, an essential, next-generation component of the biofuels supply chain in which technology and equipment is sorely lacking. AGCO estimates it will spend $10.2 million on the project in Kansas.
In Topeka, the KBA also issued its 2009 progress report and delivered it to the Legislature. Some successes highlighted in the report:
- A national site selection magazine moved Kansas up to #9 in the nation on its Top 10 list of states for biotechnology, highlighting the state’s success by placing it alongside established bio powerhouses such as California, Massachusetts, and Illinois.
Kansas was officially selected as the home of the $650 million National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, which will have an estimated $3.65 billion economic impact as it becomes the world’s preeminent research center to protect the food supply and agriculture economy. In November, a second federal research lab also announced it would relocate to Kansas.
The KBA launched bioscience centers of innovation to link research and industry in the bioenergy, biomaterials, and plant biology sectors.
To create an environment for bioscience entrepreneurs to succeed in Kansas, the KBA fully implemented its Heartland BioVentures business assistance initiative, which is helping bioscience companies in Kansas raise venture capital and get products and services to market.
Heartland BioVentures will work hand in glove with an innovative
$50 million venture fund initiated in October to dramatically increase the amount of investment capital available to growing Kansas bioscience companies.
With cancer as one of the nation’s great bioscience challenges, the KBA began investing heavily in 2009 in the state’s cancer drug development capabilities. This work, which includes the University of Kansas Cancer Center and partners across the state, will bring cutting-edge treatments closer to home, share Kansas’ unique cancer-fighting capabilities with the nation — and generate economic growth.
Through December 2009, the realized outcomes of KBA investments have had a cumulative impact of 1,170 new jobs, $112 million in capital investment, $46.6 million in research funding, and $30.8 million in equity investments in bioscience companies and an estimated $76.7 million in new wages.
KBA president Tom Thornton said KBA investments are already producing a strong return on investment, with $7.59 for each dollar invested.
“Our approach to investing in national bioscience leadership is working, and, as a state, we are fulfilling the vision of the Kansas Economic Growth Act,” Thornton said. “The question in Kansas is no longer, ‘Can this work?’ It is now, ‘Just how big will this get?’”