Biotechnology

The afternoon was an unseasonably pleasant one for early February. The site of the meeting was at the Midwest Research Institute (MRI) in Kansas City. In attendance were a score of the area leaders in the emerging bioscience industry.

Sponsoring the meeting were MRI, Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute (KCALSI), Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp. (KTEC) and Kansas State University (KSU). This assembly was part of Ingram’s ongoing “Industry Outlook” series, designed to explore issues and opportunities in the greater Kansas City area.

Ably chairing the assembly were Jim Spigarelli, president and CEO of MRI, and Tracy Taylor, president and CEO of KTEC. This was the 50th such industry assembly Ingram’s has staged in the last five years, and it proved to be an unusually productive and candid one.

Progress

First the participants were asked to address the progress of the Kansas City area in its quest to establish itself as a viable biotech center.

Bill Duncan, president of KCALSI, arguably was in the best position to respond. The organization, he believes, has made “substantial progress” in its four and a half years, as has the greater Kansas City area. The area has ramped up from $104 million in salient expenditures in 1999 to $250 million in 2004, an increase of about 20-25 percent a year. There has also been, he noted, a “substantial change in how [the participating institutions] spend their capital dollars.” He estimated that there is more than $1 billion in capital expenditures underway in the region in the life sciences.

(front row, left to right)

Jim Spigarelli Ph.D., Midwest Research Institute

Linda Lynch Ph.D., Saint Luke’s Hospital

Betty Drees M.D., UMKC School of Medicine

Sandra Willsie D.O., Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences

(second row, left to right)

John Baumann Ph.D., University of Missouri-Kansas City

Ben McCallister M.D. Mid America Heart Institute

Ralph Kauffman, M.D. Children’s Mercy Hospital

Tracy Taylor Kansas Technology Enterprise Corp.

Joan Hunt, Ph.D. Kansas University Medical Center

(back row, left to right)

Bill Duncan, Ph.D. KC Area Life Sciences Institute

Jim Roberts, Ph.D. University of Kansas

Tom Krol CyDex, Inc.

David Franz, Ph.D. Midwest Research Institute/KSU

Ron Trewyn, Ph.D. Kansas State University

Jim Guikema, Ph.D. Kansas State University

Jim Coleman, Ph.D. University of Missouri-Columbia

Gerald “Skip” Loper, Ph.D. Wichita State University

Ted Knous, Ph.D. Kansas University Medical Center

Mike Helmstetter, Ph.D. Midwest Research Institute