Pharma Zeros in on Missouri

Missouri is offering incentives, a highly trained tech workforce and a supportive environment for pharmaceutical companies looking to expand or start up.

“Our collaborations between private enterprise and institutions of higher learning to leverage state and federal funding and resources make Missouri an excellent choice for innovative pharmaceutical firms no matter the stage of their development”
-Christopher Chung, CEO, The Missouri Partnership

A pharmaceutical powerhouse is building steam across Missouri and an increasing number of drug innovators and manufacturers are investing their capital and futures in the Show Me state.

Missouri offers an impressive combination of winning attributes to pharma companies looking for a site to expand a plant, move a headquarters or launch research and development. A formidable cadre of companies already call Missouri home including biotech giant Monsanto, Pfizer's Global R&D operations (one of just four major research hubs for the company worldwide), and chemicals leader Sigma-Aldrich, as well as other notable names like Bio Merieux, Bausch & Lomb Surgical, Stereotaxis, ABC Laboratories, and Covidien.

The state's intellectual capital is nationally ranked thanks to excellent researchers and facilities at Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Missouri-Columbia, Saint Louis University, and the Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, among others.

"We offer the entire spectrum of services that pharmaceutical companies need--everything from the intellectual horsepower in R & D to the hospital industry to manufacturing.

"Missouri also offers some of the lowest costs in the nation, abundant affordable land, central location, plentiful transportation and low taxes. All those things showcase Missouri's ability to compete for pharmaceutical business," explains Christopher Chung, chief executive officer of the Missouri Partnership, which promotes development statewide.

Missouri ranked third in the nation in percentage of biopharmaceutical patents, according to the Milken Institute, and tied for No. 1 in life science facility development last year, according to Site Selection Magazine. More than 1,000 life-science companies operate in the state, employing 33,000 people.

The state has enacted aggressive tax reforms, including a sales tax exemption for property purchased by specific biotech, medical and veterinary labs for research. Missouri has abundant, affordable energy and one of the lowest business tax burdens per worker in the United States, making it a better business climate than 35 other states last year, according to the Tax Foundation.

World class pharmaceutical, life-science and animal-science research is conducted across the state ranging from clinical research in Kansas City to the globally lauded Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. The garden operates the world's most active research program in tropical botany, with an herbarium of more than 5.5 million specimens.

Missouri ranks fifth in National Science Foundation funding for life sciences and received more than $478 million in grants from NIH and the Small Business Innovation Research program in 2007. The state also ranks eighth for life-sciences R&D expenditures and Washington University School of Medicine is the fourth-largest recipient of NIH dollars among 123 U.S. medical schools.

The state is establishing a bulkhead in the development of nanomedicine with a new partnership between Washington University, Saint Louis University, University of Missouri-St. Louis and St. Louis Community College. Their St. Louis Institute of Nanomedicine Working Group received $1.5 million for three years from the Missouri Life Sciences Research Fund to pay for four pilot projects a year in research and student training.

In addition, the University of Missouri-Columbia is conducting nanomedicine research in six areas including discrete target-specific molecular (monodisperse) nanoparticles that carry multiple copies or a combination of diagnostic and therapeutic agents, first demonstration of the proof-of-principle for boron neutron capture therapy of cancer, arthritis and radiation mediated surgery, development of nano-sized molecular motors with biomedical applications, and development of catabolism-resistant pharmaceuticals based on carborane surrogate chemistry.

Pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers appreciate other research assets at the University of Missouri-Columbia including its Radiopharmaceutical Sciences Institute. RSI helps promulgate basic and applied research that advances a broad interdisciplinary program in molecular imaging and targeted radiotherapy. RSI investigators focus on the design, formulation and study of novel radiolabeled biomolecular in vivo targeting agents for development as diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals. A major focus has been the development of cancer-specific radiopharmaceuticals.

For emerging companies, six bioscience research parks operate in Missouri and more are in development. The state also has 12 certified incubators, which provide space for start-up bioscience companies, and 10 innovation centers that support bioscience entrepreneurs and emerging companies. Coupled with early-stage funding and commercialization assistance from the Missouri Technology Corporation, these provide a strong start for bioscience and pharmaceutical entrepreneurs in the state.

The Stowers Institute for Medical Research is a national leader in basic research on genes and proteins that control fundamental processes in living cells aimed at unlocking the mysteries of disease and finding the keys to their causes, treatment, and prevention. The Institute houses 24 independent research programs and more than 420 people, including more than100 postdoctoral research associates and graduate students.

The Kansas City area is the locus of some of the most innovative and groundbreaking animal  and human health research and development in the world. Kansas City-area companies make up a third of total sales in the $16.8 billion worldwide animal health industry. Four of the 10 largest animal health companies are headquartered in the area, including industry powerhouses like Boehringer-Ingelheim Vetmedica and Bayer Healthcare. Kansas City is also fifth in the nation per capita on clinical studies on human health and has a strong medical records presence with Cerner Corp.

"Our collaborations between private enterprise and institutions of higher learning to leverage state and federal funding and resources make Missouri an excellent choice for innovative pharmaceutical firms no matter the stage of their development," Chung says.

Missouri in a Capsule
Vibrant, growing pharma industry
Nationally recognized R&D scientists/facilities
Top ranking for federal life-science research funding
Strong technical, high-skilled workforce
Abundant land
Low business expenses
State tax and development incentives
State research funding programs
Low taxes
12 bioscience incubators

Information:
T: 877-725-0949
www.MissouriPartnership.com