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June 2010 |
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KBA Investments Building Strengths in Human, Animal Health
In meetings held in Shawnee, Olathe, and Washington, DC, the KBA board Cargill Meat Solutions of Wichita was awarded $750,000 over five years to support the construction of a state-of-the-art technology and innovation center focused on food safety and the development of new food products. The company plans to make a capital investment of $15 million in the expansion, retain 51 jobs, and hire an estimated 10 new employees. Ceva Biomune will receive $700,000 to expand its manufacturing facility in Lenexa for the production of vaccines for the global poultry market. The company intends to create 81 new bioscience jobs and invest approximately $15 million in the expansion. PRA International of Lenexa will receive $350,000 to expand with a new facility providing bioanalytical laboratory services for clinical trials in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. The company, which already employs 125 people in Kansas, intends to create 52 new jobs over five years and invest $3.5 million in the expansion. Lawrence-based Deciphera Pharmaceuticals is slated to receive $390,000 for key R&D studies on drugs to combat gastrointestinal tumors, mast cell leukemias, metastatic cancers, and autoimmune disorders using the company’s proprietary drug discovery platform. Deciphera will partner with XenoTech of Lenexa and Xenometrics of Stilwell on the research, which is expected to identify three lead drug candidates for pre-clinical development. SAFC Biosciences of Lenexa was awarded $250,000 to support the expansion of its manufacturing facility, which will allow increased production of cell culture media used to make biopharmaceuticals and other products. The company is expected to make an additional capital investment of approximately $6 million in the expansion and hire an estimated 27 new employees. The University of Kansas will receive $700,000 over three years upon the successful attraction of a rising star scholar who would provide the KU Cancer Center with additional expertise in cancer biomarker analysis and characterization. The scholar would bring external funding of $2.85 million and a substantial record of publication and invited lectures at the national and international level. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Arthropod-Borne Animal Diseases Research Unit (ABADRU) in Manhattan was awarded $498,917 from the KBA’s Collaborative Biosecurity Research Initiative to accelerate the development of diagnostic tests intended to prevent the spread of Rift Valley Fever virus, a high consequence biological threat to the food supply. The project is a collaboration of ABADRU, Kansas State University, the University of Wyoming and MKS Technologies. The University of Kansas Cancer Center will receive $249,975 for a Collaborative Cancer Research Initiative project focused on breast cancer prevention using Omega-3 fatty acids. The research team will be led by the nationally renowned Dr. Carol Fabian and involve a University of Texas collaborator. Breast cancer is the most common invasive cancer affecting women in the U.S., with about 200,000 cases each year, nearly a quarter of which are diagnosed before age 50. Valley Center-based Aero Innovative Research (AIR) has been awarded $73,000 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. Customer feedback regarding the product indicates the company has uncovered an underserved segment of an estimated $2.4 billion market by offering the lightest fully adjustable folding wheelchair in the world thanks to its use of aerospace technologies. Novita Therapeutics of Lenexa will receive up to $72,578 to support the development of a novel implantable cardiovascular device. The device is intended to treat a chronic condition impacting more than 200,000 patients in the U.S. and will provide a new treatment option that will reduce morbidity and mortality for these patients, while also reducing the overall cost of their care.
of directors has been hard at work evaluating opportunities to expand Kansas’ national bioscience leadership. Recent investments made include the following:
