The Agriculture Connection

Iowa is getting into the biotech act on the agricultural side, with a number of firms expanding. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, of Des Moines, is a DuPont subsidiary and integrator of agricultural research and biotechnology. Pioneer has added 130,000 sq. ft. (12,000 sq. m.) of research laboratories and offices in Johnston, Iowa, representing a $20 million investment. In addition Pioneer expanded and renovated its Carver Center for worldwide training and staff development -- a $12 million investment.
        Kemin Industries, a producer of neutraceuticals recently received $2.7 million in short-term financing from the Iowa Dept. of Economic Development Board to leverage a $24 million growth plan for the company. Among other efforts, Kemin extracts antioxidants from rosemary and an agent in potatoes, which produces a dietary sense of fullness.

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        Missouri is trying to build its biotechnology and life sciences cluster through a non-commercial Web site created by the state's Dept. of Economic Development. Through www.lifesciencesgateway.org, biotech organizations can register themselves as well as search for complementary area businesses. The aim is to create the kind of collegial atmosphere on the Web that builds the communications and relationships that are crucial to the growth of the industry. Companies can use the site to get to know one another, to exchange ideas and even to buy and sell.
        The Show Me state is counting on a number of emergent projects and institutions to fuel biotechnology growth. The Washington University School of Medicine is one of three U.S. centers in addition to the U.S. Dept. of Energy, which is sequencing 60 percent of the human genome with funding from the National Human Genome Research Institute. The Center for Emerging Technologies, a St. Louis incubator for medical high-tech start-ups, is currently nurturing companies that are developing early detection methods for cancer, gene detection technology, and minimally invasive glucose meters for diabetics. Researchers at St. Louis University are leading a national effort to find an AIDS vaccine. Even the Missouri Botanical garden, with its active research program in tropical botany, should contribute to interest among biotechnology companies.
        The Roanoke Valley of Virginia is positioning itself as a biotechnology center, boasting that the world's first cloned pig, Genie, was born at Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech's Fralin Biotechnology Center and Pharmaceutical Engineering Institute are hot beds of biotechnological research. A planned $100 million bioinformatics institute will round out the academic riches.
        Already located in the Roanoke Valley are PPL Therapeutics, a branch of the Scottish company that gained fame in 1997 for the world's first cloning of an adult mammal, Dolly the sheep; Pharming Healthcare, a Dutch-owned pharmaceutical maker working with cow's milk proteins to develop new drugs; and CropTech, a Virginia Tech start-up agricultural biotech company. The Roanoke County Center for Research and Technology which is developing 457 acres (185 ha.) off Interstate 81 with ready-to-go sites within minutes of Virginia Tech.
        The Delaware Biotechnology Institute is part of a statewide initiative to position the state as a center of excellence in biotechnology and ultimately to create more biotechnology jobs. There's lots of raw material. "We've got millions of chickens on the Delmarva peninsula," explains Neil Thomas, a spokesman for the University of Delaware. "We're working on the chicken genome."
        A state-of-the-art, 70,000 sq.-ft. (6,500-sq.-m.) research facility just opened at the Delaware Technology Park in Newark, Del. Built as the gateway to the Technology Park itself, this $14 million building will be a hub for the Institute's research. The facility will house 150 researchers in a collaborative and interdisciplinary environment, and it will include a learning lab for Delaware Technical & Community College's biotechnology curriculum. There's also ample space to rent to incubators and start-up companies. The research facility is expected to be the meeting ground for industry and academia.