Ventria cancels move to Northwest Missouri (1/1/2006) | |
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: COMMENT The collapse of the Ventria - Missouri deal (see item 1), by which the biotech firm was supposed to relocate to Northwest Missouri State University, follows major opposition to Ventria's proposal to grow GM pharma rice in Missouri's rice-growing region. When the Ventria deal was first announced, it was claimed that 2,000 acres of Ventria crops would be grown in Missouri in 2005, with Missouri farmers eventually growing more than 70% of Ventria's U.S. field production (item 2). However, Missouri farmers and rice buyers united in opposition to the idea of even Ventria field trials being held in the State. Major Missouri corporations, including Anheuser-Busch and Riceland Foods, also strongly opposed Ventria's plans, with Anheuser-Busch at one point vowing to boycott Missouri's 30 million-bushel rice crop if pharma plants were grown anywhere in the state. Northwest Missouri State University President, Dean Hubbard also claimed the deal "has the potential to transform this rural economy," and enhance Missouri's quality of life. (item 2) The hype didn't stop there. State Rep. Brad Lager also claimed (vaguely!), "This has the possibility to change a lot of things and really impact us for the better". (item 2) The University's President is still optimistically spinning the future (see item 1) despite the collapse of his much cherished deal. Missouri's farmers, however, have decidedly not bought into the pharma dream. 1.Ventria cancels move to Northwest Missouri Ventria Bioscience had planned to remove proteins from genetically modified rice at a facility under construction at the university. The proteins could be refined for use in medicines to fight diarrhea, dehydration and other illnesses. The company, based in Sacramento, Calif., was to anchor the Missouri Center of Excellence for Plant Biologics on the university's campus in Maryville. The school planned the center with the hope that it would stimulate the rural economy and provide students with opportunities in biotechnology fields. But the university's president, Dean Hubbard, said demand for Ventrias product had increased much faster than anticipated. Within the next two years, the company would need 10 times more capacity than could be provided at the protein extraction facility under construction, Hubbard said. The school and Ventria had planned to build a larger extraction facility in a second phase of construction, but money for that project couldnt be raised quickly enough. "We were struggling because they needed to do extraction much faster than we had originally expected, and we simply couldnt meet those deadlines in terms of construction and funding," he said. Hubbard said that Ventria's withdrawal does not signal an end to the Center for Excellence. "We developed a concept before we knew Ventria existed," he said. "That concept is as viable today as it was then. What we simply will do is go to one of the other companies weve had discussions with and find another anchor client that can fit into what we do." 2.Northwest seals biopharming initiative |