Commercialization
Aero Innovative Research (AIR), Valley Center
The KBA awarded $73,000 to Valley Center-based Aero Innovative Research (AIR) to develop an effective marketing plan for its wheelchair offering improved function, superior materials, advanced design, and computer automated machining that replaces the manual labor involved in conventional wheelchairs.
(5/7/2010).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: Proof of concept
AGCO, Hesston
The KBA awarded $1.5 million to the product development group of AGCO in Hesston 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.
(1/26/2010).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: AGCO estimates it will spend $10.2 million on the project in Kansas.
University of Kansas Eminent Scholar - School of Pharmacy, Lawrence
The KBA awarded $2.49 million over five years to the University of Kansas upon the successful attraction of an eminent scholar to the School of Pharmacy to direct and expand the Laboratory for Macromolecule and Vaccine Stabilization. The proposed scholar is a pharmaceutical scientist and research and development manager with 20 years of experience in formulation development and analytical characterization of biopharmaceuticals and vaccines.
(11/9/2009).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: Direct and expand the Laboratory for Macromolecule and Vaccine Stabilization
KC BioMedix, Inc., Shawnee
The KBA awarded a $250,000 equity investment to match private capital raised and up to another $250,000 subject to additional qualified capital investments. The company is commercializing medical devices based on technologies developed at the University of Kansas for the care and treatment of infants born prematurely.
(8/14/2009).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: $750,000 in additional investment capital
Ventria Bioscience, Junction City
The KBA awarded $144,744 to Ventria Bioscience as a partial match to a National Institutes of Health Phase II SBIR competitive grant of $724,628. With a unique plant-based approach, the company is meeting the need for a safe and effective alternative to the animal-based cell culture media traditionally used in vaccine and biotherapeutic production.
(8/14/2009).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: Research funding of $347,386 from the National Institute of Health (NIH).
CritiTech and SCF Technologies , Lawrence
The KBA awarded $50,000 to CritiTech and SCF Technologies of Lawrence to further develop a novel approach to converting drugs into dry, sterile powder form. The process is expected to significantly reduce costs in drug manufacturing, while easing the process of administering drugs for both physicians and patients.
(5/19/2009).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: The investment is a partial match to a $100,000 grant from the National Cancer Institute.
CyDex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Lenexa
The KBA awarded $195,000 to Lenexa-based CyDex Pharmaceuticals to commercialize re-formulated drugs that address limitations of existing therapies. A focus will be improving a cancer drug for patients with multiple myeloma.
(5/19/2009).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: Private funding support to the University of Kansas which builds research excellence at a Kansas university and supports the Kansas University Cancer Center. In addition, furthers the development of CyDex’s cancer drugs which will generate future tax revenue in Kansas.
NanoScale, Manhattan
The KBA awarded $50,000 in matching funds to Manhattan-based NanoScale to expedite the testing of nanoparticles for diagnostic and therapeutic uses in fighting cancer. These “stealth” particles are expected to allow earlier disease detection and to improve the ability of drugs to hit their intended targets with fewer side effects.
(5/19/2009).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: $150,000 in federal funding and completion of this work will build the foundation for the target scope of work for an NIH SBIR II grant application and provide the proof of concept required to move this application into the commercial marketplace.
Kansas Bioenergy and Biorefining Center of Innovation, Kansas
The KBA awarded $4.1 million to create the Kansas Bioenergy and Biorefining Center of Innovation, uniting key industry players with the world-class research and development efforts at the University of Kansas and Kansas State University. The center of innovation will use commercial biorefining to develop alternative fuels and chemicals; commercialize efficient biomass resources for cost-effective quality power; and improve carbon capture.
(3/9/2009).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: Three biorefineries and $600 million in sales of cellulosic ethanol over five years; addition of 1,800 direct jobs, 3,600 indirect jobs; direct revenue of $3.6 billion, and extra income of $30,000 per harvest per farm.
Kansas Bioscience Innovation Center in Drug Delivery, Kansas City
The KBA awarded $5 million to the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan. for the Kansas Bioscience Innovation Center in Drug Delivery. The Kansas Bioscience Innovation Center in Drug Delivery is a collaboration of industry, the University of Kansas, and Kansas State University that will transform existing outstanding academic drug delivery capabilities into an integrated, high performance, world-class drug delivery organization.
(3/9/2009).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: $900 million in economic impact over 10 years; 300 jobs; and hundreds of inventions, patents, and start-up companies.
Edenspace Systems, Manhattan
The KBA awarded $360,000 to Manhattan-based Edenspace Systems as a partial match to a $750,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and a $350,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The funding will support the further development of technology to lower processing costs and increase yields of biofuels from sorghum, corn, and switchgrass.
(1/27/2009).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: $1.1 million in federal research funding.
ICM, Colwich
The KBA awarded $500,000 to ICM to support the testing of a biomass gasification system that converts waste to synthetic fuel gas for power generation in industrial and commercial settings. The technology is intended to serve small communities that need to safely dispose of waste while generating reliable power for the electric grid. The company will invest an additional $1.7 million in the project and receive an in-kind land-use contribution from Harvey County.
(1/27/2009).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: $1.7 million in capital investment and operations.
VasoGenix Pharmaceuticals, Lenexa
The KBA awarded $400,000 to VasoGenix Pharmaceuticals to support the ongoing development of an IV and controlled-release drug treatment for acute decompensated heart failure, a disease that affects 5 million people and 550,000 new patients annually. The company is raising capital for the filing of an investigational new drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
(1/27/2009).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: $400,000 in private investment capital and progress in the FDA IND application process.
NOWA Technology, Prairie Village
The KBA awarded a $1.5 million loan to NOWA Technology to commercialize its patent-pending technology that chemically extracts marketable products such as fuel oil and mineral salts from municipal wastewater and eliminates the need to incinerate or landfill sludge. This proprietary process reduces wastewater treatment costs while providing significant environmental benefits.
(10/28/2008).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: $2.5 million in private investment capital.
Pinnacle Technology, Lawrence
The KBA awarded $375,000 to Pinnacle Technology for the commercialization of a wireless neurochemical biosensor for laboratory research that supports the pre-clinical development of new pharmaceuticals. The investment will partially match a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes of Health.
(10/28/2008).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: $840,000 in research funding.
KC BioMediX, Shawnee, Kansas
The KBA made an equity investment of $400,000 in KC BioMediX to commercialize technologies developed at the University of Kansas for the care of infants born prematurely. The company’s FDA-approved device, the NTrainer System, uses state-of-the-art hardware and software to treat preemies who have difficulty feeding orally so they can quickly gain strength and grow. This award follows a $150,000 KBA investment last fall and is part of a $4 million round of company financing.
(7/15/2008).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: $3.6 million in private investment capital.
VasoGenix Pharmaceuticals, Lenexa, Kansas
The KBA awarded a $200,000 convertible note to support the development of an IV and controlled-release drug treatment for acute decompensated heart failure, a disease that affects 5 million people and 550,000 new patients annually. The company is completing pre-clinical studies of its treatment that uses a molecule with a history of safe use in humans and which aims to improve human health while reducing re-hospitalization costs by $6 billion per year.
(7/15/2008).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: $200,000 in private investment.
ImmunoGenetix Therapeutics, Lenexa, Kansas
The KBA awarded a $420,000 convertible note to ImmunoGenetix to support the development of its therapeutic vaccine for HIV designed to inhibit viral replication by enhancing antibody and cellular immune response. The company’s approach has the potential to reduce dependency on anti-HIV drug cocktails and diminish the emergence of drug-resistant HIV strains.
(6/5/2008).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: $420,000 in private investment capital.
OsteoGeneX, Kansas City, Kansas
The KBA awarded $375,000 for the further development of a groundbreaking treatment to stop the advance of osteoporosis and related bone disorders. This grant, which is a partial match of a federal NIH/NIAMS Small Business Innovation Research grant, is OsteoGeneX’s second award from the KBA, following a $130,000 grant last year that resulted in the identification of several bone-building small molecules.
(6/5/2008).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: $995,000 in federal research funding.
TVAX Biomedical, Lenexa, Kansas
The KBA awarded $187,622 to TVAX Biomedical for a clinical trial of a unique cancer treatment that uses a patient’s own immune cells to fight the disease.
(6/5/2008).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: Progress in the FDA approval process.
Pinnacle Technology, Lawrence, Kansas
The KBA awarded up to $375,000 to Pinnacle Technologies, a Lawrence-based company that specializes in wireless, Web-enabled sensor conditioning, data acquisition, and biotechnology products, to develop real-time wireless monitoring and data acquisition systems for use in studying the brain activity of mice and rats. This technology will provide researchers with new tools to use in understanding the effects of degenerative brain disorders and developing cures for those disorders.
(1/16/2008).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: Nine new employees and $879,290 in federal research funding
Edenspace Systems Corporation, Junction City, Kansas
The KBA awarded $40,000 to support Edenspace’s breakthroughs in lowering processing costs and increasing yields of biofuels from sorghum, corn, and switchgrass. The KBA funding will serve as a 50 percent match to a Small Business Innovation Research grant the company has been awarded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
(11/26/2007).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: $80,000 in federal research funding.
Edenspace Systems Corporation, Junction City, Kansas
The KBA awarded $50,000 to support Edenspace’s breakthroughs in lowering processing costs and increasing yields of biofuels from sorghum, corn, and switchgrass. The KBA funding will serve as a 50 percent match to a Small Business Innovation Research grant the company has been awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
(11/26/2007).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: 50 percent match
CritiTech, Lawrence, Kansas
The KBA awarded $264,048 under the Bioscience Tax Investment Incentive Program to support CritiTech’s manufacture of fine-particle pharmaceuticals through a process known as precipitation with compressed antisolvent. The company is pursuing an investigational new drug application for its new product Nanotax.
(9/28/2007).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: 25 to 30 new employees, $750,000 in private investment, and $400,000 in federal research funding.
Kansas Environmental Management Associates, Topeka, Kansas
The KBA awarded a $312,500 research and development voucher to Kansas Environmental Management Associates (KEMA) for a collaboration with the Advanced Manufacturing Institute 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. KEMA has been leading an effort in conjunction with the AMI of Kansas State University to address the growing concern of excess nutrient level accumulation on farmland, specifically, phosphorous accumulation.
(9/28/2007).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: 26 new employees and $65,000 in research funding.
Innovia Medical, Lenexa, Kansas
The KBA awarded $300,000 equity investment to Innovia, plus up to an additional $350,000 if matched by Kansas private equity investors, to commercialize an FDA-approved product called EarCheck, which utilizes the only technology for the rapid detection of middle ear fluid, a key indication of ear infections (7/10/07).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: Three new employees in addition to $100,000 in capital expenditures and $3.1 million in investment capital.
(7/10/2007).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: $100,000 in federal research funding.
KC BioMediX, Shawnee, Kansas
The KBA awarded KC BioMediX a $150,000 convertible debenture to help commercialize technologies developed at the University of Kansas for the care and treatment of infants born prematurely, particularly assisting with the problem of non-nutritive sucking. KC BioMediX has licensed the sole rights to commercialize the technologies and devices described in two patent applications.
(7/10/2007).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: Approximately 99 new employees $607,000 in capital expenditures, and $1.45 million in investment capital.
OsteoGeneX, Kansas City, Kansas
The KBA awarded $130,000 to OsteoGeneX for the development of a small molecule inhibitor of the new bone anabolic target sclerostin (SOST) for the treatment of osteoporosis and related bone disorders. Through genomic approaches, sclerostin was identified as a master regulator of bone mass affecting men and women. Using proteomic approaches, OsteoGeneX discovered and patented sclerostin’s mechanism of action. Since then, the work was awarded a NIH Phase I SBIR proof-of-concept grant to screen a small molecule library for compounds blocking SOST function.
(7/10/2007).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: Collaboration with the University of Kansas to identify the dosing of authenticated lead candidates and begin animal and clinical trials; approximately eight new employees; and $134,000 in federal research funding.
Sunflower Integrated Bioenergy Center, Holcomb, Kansas
The KBA awarded $500,000 to the National Institute for Strategic Technology Acquisition and Commercialization (NISTAC) for a Phase II project to identify and commercialize renewable energy technology for western Kansas, including funding for engineering and economic/legal due diligence. Sunflower Electric Power Corporation will contribute the land, and NISTAC will contribute intellectual property.
(1/9/2007).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: Approximately 161 new employees, $278,000 in research funding, and $400 million in capital expenditures.
CritiTech, Lawrence, Kansas
The KBA awarded $48,700 to CritiTech to create smaller and more uniform particles in the area of drug delivery. Funding is for the purchase and setup of a new and improved coating unit, greatly expanding CritiTech’s capacity to perform feasibility and development projects for pharmaceutical companies.
(7/13/2006).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: Two new employees and $100,000 in federal research funds.
MGP Ingredients, Atchison, Kansas
The KBA awarded $40,000 for research vouchers to K-State for creating higher value products from distillers dried grains, millfeeds, corn stalks and wheat straw that segregate into several fractions and are used in subsequent biorefinery operations and products. MGPI is a recognized pioneer in the development and commercialization of bio-based products as well as specialty starches and proteins for use in a wide array of consumer goods. It is embarking on an aggressive plan to develop a substantial business based on bio-based, biodegradable resins designed to economically replace plastic resin.
(7/13/2006).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: Approximately six new employees.
Nutri-shield, Courtland, Kansas
The KBA awarded $40,000 to Nutri-Shield, a company engaged in development, manufacturing, marketing, and sales of preservatives. The company’s primary business is the removal of odors and flavors from commercial grade preservatives used in food and health care and cosmetic products. Funding is for assistance in developing and transitioning a process for synthesizing sorbic acid from the carbohydrate fraction of corn from proven lab scale to a plant setting. Funds will be split between research vouchers and equipment and lab needs.
(7/13/2006).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: $85,238 in capital expenditures and $35,000 in research funding.
Sunflower Integrated Bioenergy Center, Holcomb, Kansas
The KBA awarded $13,000 for a Phase I project to the National Institute for Strategic Technology Acquisition and Commercialization (NISTAC) to identify and commercialize renewable energy technology for western Kansas. Funding will be matched by Sunflower Electric Power Corporation and NISTAC.
(7/13/2006).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: Attracted matching funds for a study leading to the creation of an integrated bioenergy center.
IdentiGEN North America, Lawrence, Kansas
The KBA awarded $125,000 to IdentiGEN for a research voucher for a K-State professor and financial assistance to defray the cost of scientific equipment in Kansas laboratories. IdentiGEN is an innovative provider of DNA-based solutions to the agri-food industry with plans to locate headquarters for its U.S. operations in Lawrence.
(4/11/2006).
Expected or Realized Outcomes: Approximately 35 new employees, $41,500 in research funding, and $1.9 million in capital expenditures.