Maryville, Missouri
November 18, 2004
Northwest Missouri State
University and Ventria
Bioscience, a biopharmaceutical company, have reached an
agreement that could turn Northwest Missouri into a Center of
Excellence for plant-made pharmaceutical
production.
Northwest Missouri State
University has worked to develop a program that would integrate
Missouri’s existing strengths into a plan to encourage economic
development, attract the life sciences industry, enhance
university curriculum and provide new jobs in the Northwest
Missouri area. Plant-made pharmaceuticals are a perfect fit for
the State of Missouri, which is already a leader in plant
biotechnology. In addition to Northwest Missouri State
University, other Missouri resources include:
-
the
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center
-
the
University of Missouri, Columbia
-
sophisticated production capabilities and land resources
Dr. Dean Hubbard, President of
Northwest Missouri State, University alumnus Mel Booth, a former
top executive for MedImmune, and leading biotechnology companies
including Human Genome Sciences, the University Board of Regents
and other experts met on campus last February to develop a
vision for creating a center of excellence for plant-made
pharmaceuticals at Northwest Missouri State University. From
this vision, the group developed a set of criteria for the types
of companies that they wanted to bring to Northwest Missouri
State. The criteria included finding a company with outstanding
products, with revenue potential exceeding $200 million, strong
technology to enable the commercialization of many future
products, a well respected Board of Directors and an experienced
business and scientific team. This company would serve as an
anchor tenant to attract similar companies, related suppliers
and support businesses.
“We looked at several companies
and decided that Ventria was a perfect fit to be our anchor
company,” said Dean Hubbard. “We have been in discussions for
several months and are very happy to announce that Northwest
Missouri State University and Ventria have reached an agreement
that involves the relocation of Ventria’s operations including
their headquarters, research facilities, processing facilities
and field production to Missouri.
Ventria is a biopharmaceutical
company that has developed a novel production system called
ExpressTec that uses self-pollinating plants, rice and barley,
as factories to produce therapeutic proteins and peptides. The
proteins and peptides are then extracted and formulated into
medical foods or pharmaceuticals. Proteins and peptides are
required for the structure, function and regulation of the
body’s cells, tissues and organs. Each protein and peptide plays
a unique role in the human body and has unique applications for
human health.
Ventria is committed to developing
products that enhance human health. “We have a number of
exciting products in the pipeline and Northwest Missouri State
University and the State of Missouri have worked with us to
develop the infrastructure and facilities necessary to bring
these products to market for the benefit of global health,” said
Scott Deeter, President and CEO of Ventria. |