Pete
05-22-2007, 08:15 AM
Tue May 22, 2007
City grades high as biotech 'star'
By Jim Stafford
Business Writer
Oklahoma City has unlocked the secret to building a growing, thriving biotechnology industry, says site consultant John Rhodes: Grow your own.
"I think the city that figures out that home-grown is the way to go and knows what research activities are going on, and puts the infrastructure and facilities and training and all of that, and keeps the entrepreneurship sharp within the research community, I think ultimately will have their own critical mass, Rhodes said.
In a recent article in Site Selection magazine, Rhodes identified Oklahoma City as one of the country's "rising communities in what he called the biomedical research and development area. Other cites he identified as rising stars included Seattle, Phoenix, Denver, Kansas City and Athens, Ga.
"Looking at the Presbyterian Health Foundation complex and seeing that actual companies are forming; a lot of cities are talking, but Oklahoma City is doing, Rhodes said. "That is a pretty important thing. There is a lot of traction, there is real activity, there are real businesses forming. You are doing all the fundamentals to bring an industry to its feet and make something happen.
Of course, the news that Oklahoma City was included among some of the nation's bigger metropolitan areas as rising stars in biotech was welcomed news to local industry leaders. Oklahoma City's comparisons falter with some of the others because it lacks a Pfizer or a Genetech, said Michael Anderson, president of the Presbyterian Health Foundation.
"I think we certainly have some interesting comps that are as good or better than some of the cities (Rhodes) named like Kansas City or Denver, Anderson said. "We don't have anything like the large biotechs and big pharmas (pharmaceutical companies) that the other cities have. We lack the large size biotech companies, but we could be growing one, and that's what we are hoping for.
James Johnson, site location manager for the Oklahoma Commerce Department, cited the confluence of several things that have worked to build momentum for biotech research in Oklahoma. Count among those, he said, the location of the Presbyterian Health Foundation Research Park, establishment of the governor's EDGE fund, the new diabetes and cancer centers under construction on the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center campus and the selection of Oklahoma City as a location for the first proton treatment center by ProCure Treatment Centers.
"No one single thing by itself is the reason, but when you put the collective together it's a very compelling argument, Johnson said. "Am I surprised? No. Has it been long in coming? Yes. Is it something that is going to continue down the road with certainty? Absolutely.
Oklahoma's challenge remains a lack of seed money, Anderson said. And the fact that the state legislature recently passed legislation that would take $4 million from the budget of the state's technology-based economic development agency and use it to fund bio-energy development is a concern, he said.
"To take money from your best R&D you have, OCAST, which is well known throughout the world and is used as a model, and actually take some of their money and start something else, starving the very thing that you are best at, is just not logical, Anderson said.
Anderson and Rhodes both identified access to venture capital as a challenge to growing the industry locally. Oklahoma also is handicapped somewhat by its location and the fact that potential investors most likely can't fly nonstop into the city, Rhodes said.
The really big investment capital is most likely located on the coast, Anderson said.
"We don't have the big players that Texas and California does, he said. "They have mammoth funds to work with.
Rhodes has spent time in Oklahoma City, staying downtown, dining in Bricktown and doing some sight-seeing in the city. He went away impressed. Oklahoma is a "third-tier city moving into the second tier, he said.
"You are doing a lot of the fundamentals that will get you where you want to go, Rhodes said.
City grades high as biotech 'star'
By Jim Stafford
Business Writer
Oklahoma City has unlocked the secret to building a growing, thriving biotechnology industry, says site consultant John Rhodes: Grow your own.
"I think the city that figures out that home-grown is the way to go and knows what research activities are going on, and puts the infrastructure and facilities and training and all of that, and keeps the entrepreneurship sharp within the research community, I think ultimately will have their own critical mass, Rhodes said.
In a recent article in Site Selection magazine, Rhodes identified Oklahoma City as one of the country's "rising communities in what he called the biomedical research and development area. Other cites he identified as rising stars included Seattle, Phoenix, Denver, Kansas City and Athens, Ga.
"Looking at the Presbyterian Health Foundation complex and seeing that actual companies are forming; a lot of cities are talking, but Oklahoma City is doing, Rhodes said. "That is a pretty important thing. There is a lot of traction, there is real activity, there are real businesses forming. You are doing all the fundamentals to bring an industry to its feet and make something happen.
Of course, the news that Oklahoma City was included among some of the nation's bigger metropolitan areas as rising stars in biotech was welcomed news to local industry leaders. Oklahoma City's comparisons falter with some of the others because it lacks a Pfizer or a Genetech, said Michael Anderson, president of the Presbyterian Health Foundation.
"I think we certainly have some interesting comps that are as good or better than some of the cities (Rhodes) named like Kansas City or Denver, Anderson said. "We don't have anything like the large biotechs and big pharmas (pharmaceutical companies) that the other cities have. We lack the large size biotech companies, but we could be growing one, and that's what we are hoping for.
James Johnson, site location manager for the Oklahoma Commerce Department, cited the confluence of several things that have worked to build momentum for biotech research in Oklahoma. Count among those, he said, the location of the Presbyterian Health Foundation Research Park, establishment of the governor's EDGE fund, the new diabetes and cancer centers under construction on the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center campus and the selection of Oklahoma City as a location for the first proton treatment center by ProCure Treatment Centers.
"No one single thing by itself is the reason, but when you put the collective together it's a very compelling argument, Johnson said. "Am I surprised? No. Has it been long in coming? Yes. Is it something that is going to continue down the road with certainty? Absolutely.
Oklahoma's challenge remains a lack of seed money, Anderson said. And the fact that the state legislature recently passed legislation that would take $4 million from the budget of the state's technology-based economic development agency and use it to fund bio-energy development is a concern, he said.
"To take money from your best R&D you have, OCAST, which is well known throughout the world and is used as a model, and actually take some of their money and start something else, starving the very thing that you are best at, is just not logical, Anderson said.
Anderson and Rhodes both identified access to venture capital as a challenge to growing the industry locally. Oklahoma also is handicapped somewhat by its location and the fact that potential investors most likely can't fly nonstop into the city, Rhodes said.
The really big investment capital is most likely located on the coast, Anderson said.
"We don't have the big players that Texas and California does, he said. "They have mammoth funds to work with.
Rhodes has spent time in Oklahoma City, staying downtown, dining in Bricktown and doing some sight-seeing in the city. He went away impressed. Oklahoma is a "third-tier city moving into the second tier, he said.
"You are doing a lot of the fundamentals that will get you where you want to go, Rhodes said.