Iowa Has a Cow as South Dakota Lands $15 Million Bovine Biotech Plant

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). The state of Iowa recently lost out to South Dakota in competition for a major biotech construction project, impeding the state's plan to build its reputation as a biotech center. Hematech (Westport, Connecticut) had seriously considered Iowa before choosing Sioux Falls, South Dakota as the site for their new $15 million 40,000 square foot laboratory and manufacturing facility. (PEC 32000122).

Hematech is currently in advanced development to transform proteins from cows into pharmaceuticals for human use. The company had been attracted to Iowa by their research partner Trans Ova (Sioux Center, Iowa) and their plans to build a multi-client protein purification plant (PEC 29000803) in Sioux Center, Iowa. A lengthy delay on the part of the state of Iowa guaranteeing $33 million for Trans Ova apparently paved the way for Hematech to go ahead with plans to build their own pilot-scale purification plant in South Dakota.

Hematech's choice has proved to be a smart one. Not only did the company get South Dakota to agree to pay for half of the $15 million project cost, but Senator Tom Daschle has just spurred the House and Senate conference committee on the Defense Appropriations bill to include $3 million for the Department of Defense to develop a system in South Dakota that will enable the military to rapidly respond to bioterror threats. The funding will allow Hematech to develop a large-scale, polyclonal human antibody production system in South Dakota, specifically designed to enable the military to quickly respond to bioterror threats.

Click the following link to view Industrialinfo.com's 2003 North American Pharmaceutical-Biotech Forecast