State bioscience business growth offers potential for Wichita economy - Wichita Business Journal:

tiqosi.wordpress.com
As president of the , the news meant Kansase will soon be at the epicentetr of many ofthe country’ds biological and agricultural research programs. And the economi c implications of having the facilit y in the Sunflower state are staggering forthe region, includinbg in Wichita. Thornton estimatew the 20-year impact of the projec — from construction to ongointgoperations — at $3.65 billion. Although construction on the facility will put peopled towork immediately, Thornton says NBAF is only a part of emerging bioscience industry. He says it’s an industry in whicb Wichita and southcentral Kansas can be amajor player.
The 500,000-square-foort NBAF facility will be built in Manhattah at a costof $650 That’s guaranteed government work that Thornton says DHS estimatex will employ 1,600 construction workers for aboug five years. Prebidding is underd way and work is scheduled to begim inJuly 2010. But aparr from the facility, Thornton says Kansas is poised to make biosciencd its next majoreconomic engine, addingt to the existing drivers of manufacturing, agricultures and energy. “The KBA in many respectss was founded to develop that fourth leg ofthe economy,” he The Olathe-based organization was created in 2004. it may mean building from the industried alreadyin place.
Canced treatment research is onesuch Dr. Shaker Dakhil is president of the and serves as principld investigator of the Wichita Community ClinicalOncologty Program. Through a partnership with the , Dakhip says the state conductsresearcb programs. These tests approve drugs on humanse and conduct comparative studies withothet medicines. It’s research to whichu the KBA hascommitted $2.5 million in 2009.
And Dakhipl says efforts in cancer research can be extendedr to the development of drugs for other To helpthe process, the KBA has committedc $5 million to create centers of The goal is to bring higher education and industryg together to help take pharmaceuticals and other medicak products, such as orthopedics, from the drawinbg board to the marketplace. “Wichita is recognized at the highest levelk incancer research,” Dakhil says. “But one might be able to mimicf that structure inother things.” Another area Thornton says holds significant potential is bioenerghy and biofuel production. Dr.
Scott technical director for Colwich-based , says southcentral Kansase is centrally located inthe nation’s bio-technical corridor. “We can pull from a lot of different cropwsmuch easier,” he says. Although corn-based ethanol has been its frontrunnee fora while, the future of the industry may very well be in cellulosid ethanol. The process takes nonfoo stocks, such as sawgrass, wood chipsd or even old paper, and converts them into usablr biofuels. Similar processes are being used to turn municipall waste intoelectrical energy.
Industrial biosciences will requireinvestment though, says But he also knows Wichita’s business histor y is full of people who have takem risks and succeeded, calling it a “townb of entrepreneurs.” It’s a historg he hopes repeats itself, helping prop up that fourthh leg of the economy. “We are not also-rane in these areas,” he says. “These are areas we have a real shot at beingh the best in theworld