BioMatters - Fall 2009

BioMatters FA L L 2 0 0 9

A MichBio Publication Showcasing Michigan’s Biosciences Industry

Manufacturing is alive and well in michigan With Medical Devices in the Driver’s Seat

Also Featured: IT and R&D: Shaping the Future of Medicine Bio-Innovation Fueling Academic-Industry Partnerships Michigan Companies Aim to Burst the Healthcare Bubble

IN MICHIGAN, SOMETHING NEW IN HIGH-TECH INNOVATION IS HAPPENING EVERY DAY. Working with our partners at MichBio, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation can connect high-tech companies and entrepreneurs to services, incentives, networking opportunities and venture capital to help them grow and prosper.

SM

Visit MichiganAdvantage.org and learn how Michigan can give your biotech company the Upper Hand.Â

MichiganAdvantage.org

S T A TE O F M ICHIG A N M E S S A GE

Michigan’s broad-based bioscience industry is a world leader in biotech research and development, creating more than

125 new companies since 2000. It encompasses research, testing and medical labs, pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

An abundance of scientific and clinical talent is home-grown from a 140-year legacy of biotechnology innovation built by industry pioneers Parke-Davis and Upjohn and including Dow Chemical, Kellogg and Stryker.

One of the world’s largest concentrations of research in the life sciences includes the University of Michigan in Ann

Arbor, known internationally for pioneering work in genetics, and Michigan State University housing the National Center for Food Safety and Toxicology, the National Superconducting Cyclotron Lab and the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. In Grand Rapids, the state’s second-largest city, a regional medical care and life science research hub is anchored by the Michigan State University medical school expansion.

Economic Impact

With an economic impact of $9.34 billion, the state’s bioscience industry comprises more than 550 companies, mostly

clustered in Southeast and West Michigan. University life science research expenditures of $897 million are concentrated primarily at University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University.

Total direct bioscience employment in Michigan, industry plus academic, is 40,086. Adding 58,721 spin-off jobs brings

total bioscience employment to 98,807 accounting for 18 of every 1,000 jobs statewide and $6.36 billion in earnings. Private bioscience industry payrolls reached nearly $2.5 billion in 2007, with state taxes generated amounting to $462 million.

Investment and Incentives The state has directly invested more than $323 million in bioscience companies via the Life Sciences Corridor and 21st Century Jobs Fund commercialization competitions, with an additional $47 million invested in venture capital firms which in turn invest in bioscience firms.

Michigan is home to 16 venture capital funds and is one of only nine states to offer state fund-of-fund investment

programs. It has a total of $500 million in state investment capital available. A network of 15 SmartZoneTM tax-advantaged districts (eight with wet-lab incubators) fosters university-affiliated commercialization programs. State incentives include: pre-seed capital fund, seed tax credits for Angel investors, state R&D tax credits, sales tax exemption for R&D and biomanufacturing equipment, and net operating loss (NOL) carryover allowed for 10 years.

Future Prospects

As a pillar of Michigan’s drive to diversify the economy and foster emerging technologies, the bioscience industry is

backed by strong financial support and infrastructure tailored to its business development requirements. Medical education is booming, with expansions at three of the state’s four medical schools opening new channels of research and innovation.

With healthcare now ahead of manufacturing as the state’s largest private-sector employer, Michigan’s fast-growing life science industry seems destined to grow at an even faster pace in the years ahead.

Sincerely,

Greg Main President & CEO, Michigan Economic Development Corporation

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BioMatters | Fall 2009

BioMatters | Fall 2009

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P RE S I D ENT ’ S M E S S A GE

Welcome to Michigan’s Biosciences Community!

Last year we seized the opportunity to launch BioMatters, a magazine meant

to showcase the state’s significant infrastructure, resources, and investment in the biosciences sector. The publication has been a resounding success. With this issue, we celebrate its one-year anniversary by adding a new digital version of the publication.

While we will still have printed copies for distribution to our members, select stakeholders and at state and national events, the easy-to-use, “page-turning” digital version provides an array of useful features for our readers and advertisers. Be sure to forward the digital BioMatters to your own customers, professional colleagues, and friends so that they can learn about the many outstanding discoveries and products, manufacturing capabilities, and investment opportunities emerging out of the state’s biosciences sector.

In addition to spreading the word about BioMatters, I want to emphasize our commitment to member companies, with added services and products meant to support the growth and development of their businesses. We have greatly expanded our Preferred Provider group-buying program. MichBio companies can enjoy considerable, bottom-line savings by signing up for discounts and preferred arrangements on everything from lab supplies, liability insurance, financial services and strategic planning, to business intelligence, to technology products and support. That’s pure value for companies of all sizes and types.

Similarly, MichBio has now put in place a public policy and advocacy infrastructure

second to none in the nation. Through the association’s efforts, Michigan is now the first and only state to have legislative subcommittees focused solely on the biosciences. MichBio members are kept abreast of hot issues as they develop in Lansing and Washington. We continue to educate about the positive impact the biosciences industry is having on our

P R O F E S S I O N A L S TA F F

Stephen T. Rapundalo, Ph.D. President and CEO srapundalo@michbio.org 734.527.9144 Stephen Field Director, Operations and Controller steve@michbio.org 734.527.9145 Jayne Berkaw Director, Marketing and Communications jayne@michbio.org 734.527.9147 Heather Kusiak Administrative Specialist heather@michbio.org 734.527.9150

economy and human health, as well as advocate for additional support to grow the sector.

It is through these and other such endeavors that Michigan can boast a vast arsenal of resources available to new start-ups and established companies alike. Greg Main, President

C O NT A CT IN F O R M A TI O N

of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, makes note in his letter on page 1 that Michigan has made a significant commitment to the biosciences in terms of funding

Physical Address

support, commercialization services and capital investment availability. Michigan’s story

3520 Green Court, Suite 450

of continued achievement in bioscience innovation and commercialization is one of

Ann Arbor, Michigan 48105-1579

commitment, opportunity and value. Come check out what Michigan can do for your Mailing Address

bioscience company!

P.O. Box 130199 Ann Arbor, Michigan 48113-0199 Stephen Rapundalo, Ph.D.

Phone

President and CEO, MichBio

BioMatters Goes Digital!

734.527.9150

Next Issue: SPRING 2010

This is the first issue of BioMatters to offer a new digital version that appears in an easy-to-navigate “page-turning” format. The new format is also clickable, zoomable, printable, linkable, savable and sendable, and it offers advertisers an array of tools that are not available in a print format. These include: • Direct links to your website and email addresses • The ability to include customizable forms so readers can request more information • The ability to include interactive media and video content • Expanded reach to a broader distribution list • Reader statistics to measure the success of your ad The digital version will also help MichBio in our efforts to spread the word about Michigan’s exciting biosciences industry. Be sure to pass it along to your own customers and constituents, and please let us know how you like the new digital BioMatters!

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Fax 734.302.4933 Website www.michbio.org General Information info@michbio.org

BioMatters | Fall 2009

C O R P O R ATE S P O N S O R S

P L ATINU M

O F F ICER S , D IRECT O R S A N D C O M M ITTEE S

Executive Officers Chairman Stephen Munk, Ph.D. Ash Stevens, President and CEO President and CEO Stephen T. Rapundalo, Ph.D. MichBio, President and CEO

GOLD

Secretary Christina DeHayes Asterand, Inc., General Counsel

S I LVER

Treasurer Matthew L. McColl Ernst & Young LLP, Partner ssistant Treasurer A Ryan Noel Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Diabetes, University of Michigan Administrator

Directors Linda Chamberlain, Ph.D. West Michigan Science and Technology Initiative Executive Director

BRONZE

David Felten, M.D., Ph.D. Beaumont Hospitals, Research Institute Vice President, Research and Medical Director J. Patrick Elliot Terumo Cardiovascular Systems Corp.

Vice President, Business Development James Freeman, Ph.D. Pfizer Animal Health Vice President, Laboratory Sciences

MEDIA

PATRON

Ash Stevens, Asterand, Lumigen, Varnum

FRIEND

Wayne State University

SUPPORTER

Biotechnology Business Consultants, Caraco, sanofi-aventis U.S., West Michigan Science & Technology Initiative

BioMatters | Fall 2009

Ricardo (Richard) Fuentes Jr. Dow Corporate Venture Capital Global Life Science Investment Director Teri Grieb U of M Medical School, Office of Research Director of Administration for Research Office of Research and Graduate Studies Mark Kielb Altarum Institute Chief Financial Officer

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Barry Kline GlaxoSmithKline Director, Market Development Michael Kurek, Ph.D. Biotechnology Business Consultants Partner/President Paul Morris AlixPartners, LLP Finance Manager, National Enterprise Improvement Practice Stephen Munk, Ph.D. Ash Stevens, President and CEO Stephen T. Rapundalo, Ph.D. MichBio, President and CEO John J.H. Schwarz, M.D. Family Health Center Physician, Former U.S. Representative Eric Stief Wayne State University — Technology Commercialization Licensing Manager Director of Venture Development Karen Studer-Rabeler Coy Manufacturing/ Coy Laboratory Products General Manager Vice President, Business Development David Zimmermann Kalexsyn, Inc. Chief Executive Officer

Committees Facilities Intellectual Properties and Legislation Marketing and Communications Membership and Services Programs Public Policy

Briana Reprogle ‘13 Applied Physics and Mechanical Engineering Co-op: Feinberg School of Medicine, Dept. of Physical Therapy and Human Movement Sciences at Northwestern University

ll u F

This place thinks like you think.

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800-955-4464 ext. 7865 BioMatters | Fall 2009

FROM DISCOVERY TO THE MARKETPLACE

Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo share and celebrate a legacy of life science education, discovery and commercialization. Explore our resources.

• A VIBRANT BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH PARK THAT IS HOME TO 17 LIFE SCIENCE COMPANIES—MANY LAUNCHED IN THE PARK’S AWARD-WINNING INCUBATOR, THE SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN INNOVATION CENTER. • A BIOSCIENCES RESEARCH AND COMMERCIALIZATION CENTER THAT HELPS GUIDE GLOBAL DISCOVERY FROM THE RESEARCH LAB TO THE MARKETPLACE. • THE RENOWNED FACULTY AND RESEARCH FACILITIES OF A TOP-100 PUBLIC RESEARCH UNIVERSITY.

www.wmich.edu

BioMatters T A B L E O F C O NTENT S

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MichBio Corporate Sponsors, Officers, Directors and Committees

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Feature Story: Michigan A Player in Burgeoning Medical Instrument Manufacturing Market

Essen Instruments Markets a “Microscope” in an Incubator

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Pharmaceuticals & Therapeutics: Michigan Companies Aim to Burst the Healthcare Bubble

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Cerise Nutraceuticals Uses Cherries to Boost Michigan and Individual Health

Nutralite Brand a World Leader in Nutritional Supplements

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TECHNOLOGY:

Michigan is Where

IT and R&D Meet to Shape the Future of Medicine One to Watch: DNA Software

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INNOVATION: Bio Innovation in Michigan Fueled by Academic-Industry Partnership

Moving Toward a Michigan Bioeconomy

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RESEARCH PRODUCTS: State’s Biotech Companies are Making Their Presence Felt

Asterand is a Powerhouse of Growth in Research Products

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Guest Opinion: Advancing Michigan Bio-Industry Growth Through Education & Advocacy

The following MichBio members are featured in this issue of BioMatters: Accuri Cytometers, Arivium, Assay Designs, Asterand, Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, Beaumont Hospitals, Central Michigan University, Compendia Bioscience, Delphi Medical Systems, DNA Software, Ferndale Laboratories, Genetics Squared, Henry Ford Health System, Johnson & Johnson, Lawrence Institute of Technology, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, Michigan State University, Michigan Technological University, Neogen, Oxford Biomedical Research, Pfizer, Terumo Cardiovascular Systems, University of Michigan Medical Innovation Center, University of Michigan Biomedical Engineering

Subscribe to BioMatters:

Visit www.michbio.org and click “Subscribe” or call 734.527.9150.

A D VERTI S ER S Ash Stevens........................................................18 Bank of Ann Arbor.............................................14 Beaumont Commercialization Center................30 The Brooks Industrial & Research Park.............19 Clean Rooms International ...............................21 Cutting Image Histology....................................21 CVCT, Inc............................................................19 DBA Analytical...................................................30 Doeren Mayhew...................................................6 Dykema..............................................................21 Gallahad Consulting, PLC ..................................18

Great Lakes Entrepreneur’s Quest......................12 Hylant Group......................................................14 Kettering University.............................................5 Landaal Packaging Systems............................OBC Medlen & Carroll, LLP .......................................19 MichBio............................................................IBC Michigan Economic Development Corporation................................................. IFC Michigan State University..................................29 MPI Research.....................................................24 NuStep ...............................................................12

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Oakland University............................................30 Pfizer....................................................................2 PhRMA...............................................................28 Rader, Fishman & Grauer PLLC.........................34 RS Electronics....................................................34 Stryker ...............................................................10 University of MichiganTech Transfer.................14 Warner Norcross & Judd....................................29 West Michigan Science & Technology Initiative.....12 Western Michigan University...............................6

BioMatters | Fall 2009

F E ATURE S TO RY

Photo courtesy of Terumo

F IN A NCI A L M ATTER S

The Sarns™ Soft Flow® Aortic Cannula is one of many globally-known brands for cardiac and vascular surgery that

Terumo Cardiovascular manufactures.

Michigan a Player

Photo courtesy of Stryker Corp.

in Burgeoning Medical Instrument Manufacturing Market

Stryker’s

replacement portfolio

of hip, knee and shoulder implants focuses on procedural and product innovations that help restore patients to normal activity and stand the test of time.

BioMatters | Fall 2009

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Michigan’s strong medical device manufacturing sector includes global leaders like Terumo and Stryker, and new product innovators like Delphi Medical Systems, Accuri Cytometers, and Integrated Sensing Systems. Read how these businesses are thriving despite rough economic times in Michigan.

Cardiac Surgery? A Terumo Cardiovascular Product Probably Contributed When Dick Sarns built the first commercially available heart-lung machine in 1960 in Ann Arbor, little did he envision his company being sold twice to become the powerhouse it is today. First Sarns sold the business to 3M in 1981, and then 3M sold the growing business to Japan-based Terumo, a company with $3 billion in annual sales.

Over 500 people now work in Terumo Cardiovascular Systems in Ann Arbor, a division of Terumo that produces, markets, sells and services life-sustaining critical care devices.

“What gets me excited is looking ahead at technology; it’s leaps and bounds ahead of what it was.”

There are over 1.2 million cardiac surgery procedures performed annually, and it is highly likely that a Terumo product, whether as small as a catheter or as large as a platelet concentrate system, was used in most of these procedures.

Last year Terumo added 65 people to Ann Arbor, when it consolidated facilities from Elkton, Maryland and added a new chemistry lab.

“What gets me excited is looking ahead at technology; it’s leaps and bounds ahead of what it was,” said James P. Elliott, vice president for business development. “Ten years ago, most of the patients who had

Photo courtesy of Terumo

By Deb Merion

Critical

care devices are used daily in a wide range of

procedures from coronary artery bypass grafting to valve replacements, aortic aneurysm repair and heart transplants.

open heart surgery needed a vein in their leg removed for the bypass. We used to fillet the leg, and people used to complain that the surgery of the leg was the most painful part. Now we can remove the vein with a tiny 5mm incision and use a scope we produce to remove it in a minimally invasive way.”

Still, President Obama’s healthcare reform is a challenge for the future. “We can always come out with a better widget, but there is not always a way for hospitals to pay for it. Providing better patient care for lower cost is a challenge. We look for technologies that can do that and have the support of a reimbursement strategy,” Elliott added.

And Dick Sarns? He’s still in Ann Arbor and has created NuStep, a business that manufactures exercise equipment for heart disease patients.

Stryker is a Global Medical Technology Leader Stryker, like Terumo, is a leader it its market, with sales in over 120 countries.

It is the largest player in the $35 billion orthopedic market (implants, surgical equipment, etc.) with $6.7 billion annually in sales, and number ten in the $225 billion medical technology market.

Corporate headquarters as well as Stryker’s medical and operating room equipment

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divisions are in Kalamazoo, employing 1,600 of its 17,000 worldwide staff.

“We make a difference by caring for the caregivers,” said J. Patrick Anderson, Stryker’s vice president for Corporate Affairs. “We work closely with medical personnel; we have company representatives in the operating room eight-to-ten hours a day, advising doctors about the implant or our equipment.” Stryker’s thousands of products include implants used in joint replacement, trauma, craniomaxillofacial and spinal surgeries; biologics; surgical, neurologic, ear, nose & throat and interventional pain equipment; endoscopic, surgical navigation, communications and digital imaging systems; as well as patient handling and emergency medical equipment.

“We have established a reputation as a growth company,” said Anderson. “Our

“We work closely with medical personnel; we have company representatives in the operating room eight-to-ten hours a day, advising doctors about the implant or our equipment.”

ability to identify and respond to the needs of the marketplace has allowed us during the past 10 years to grow from $1.9 billion in sales in 1999 to $6.7 billion in 2008. As the world’s population continues to age, the demand for our products should remain strong for many years into the future.”

For example, at the beginning of this year the business introduced a new high-definition surgical camera used in arthroscopic

BioMatters | Fall 2009

F E ATURE S TO RY

surgery that is double the resolution of home HD products, delivering the highest definition in the industry for surgical accuracy.

Stryker’s growth should increase with economic advances in the rest of the world.

“One of challenges we face is that some of the healthcare systems around the world like, China or India, are not as highly developed, so they don’t yet deliver as advanced a level of treatment —in developing markets our products are still ahead of the curve,” said Anderson.

Delphi Leverages Technology and Engineering to Create Medical Devices Imagine for a moment that you are a world leader in manufacturing automotive parts with 150,000 employees nationwide, but you are looking to diversify and grow into a new market: what would you do? Faced with this quandary seven years ago, Delphi

BioMatters | Fall 2009

Delphi looked at its technology and engineering base and saw opportunities in the world of medical devices.

looked at its technology and engineering base and saw opportunities in the world of medical devices for its employees’ existing skills.

The result was the creation of a wholly-owned subsidiary called Delphi Medical Systems.

“For example, our human factors group does critical work on how people interface with equipment, and these talents and skills are useful for the highly complex instruments that nurses and doctors must master,” said Patrick Keely, general manager of Delphi Medical.

Over the last five years, Delphi has developed products for three growing market segments: a portable oxygen concentrator, vital signs monitor, and an intravenous medication infusion pump.

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In a healthcare market that is serving increasing numbers of senior citizens and chronic disease cases while meeting higher outcome and quality standards, Delphi Medical Systems products appear strongly situated. Their portable oxygen concentrator weighs 10 lbs., sits under a seat in an airplane, and was approved for travel last year by the FAA. Their vital signs monitor, selling for a few thousand dollars, is at a price point suitable for purchase by an individual, yet is flexible enough to monitor multiple patients in a nursing home. The strength of this device is that patients don’t have to go to a doctor’s office to get monitored daily.

The device records personal statistics such as weight, blood pressure, and glucose level, and then automatically transmits them to a central computer server, where a doctor can then remotely monitor a larger number of patients at a lower healthcare cost.

Accuri Cytometers’ Price Buster is a Market Innovation In David Hurley’s University of Georgia study of cow placentas, he’d routinely have to help with the birth of a calf in the middle of the night and then drive across campus to access the campus’s cytometer to measure its T-cell count. That is, until four years ago when Accuri Cytometers came on the market as a U-M spinoff with a cytometer that sold for 25% of the cost of the $130,000 market leader.

Hurley now has Accuri’s cytometer in his dairy barn.

Accuri’s price-buster tool is making for a fast-growing company with wide-reaching implications.

“This is a market innovation, not a technology innovation,” said Jack Ball, Accuri’s vice president for business development. Most scientists cannot very easily get grants for things that cost over $100,000.

Accuri’s price-buster tool is making for a fast-growing company with wide-reaching implications.“By making flow cytometry technology more affordable, accessible and usable, Accuri’s high performance systems have the potential to accelerate and broaden the scope of biomedical research,” said Bahaa Fam, a partner at Fidelity Biosciences, in a statement.

The cytometer is used to track and treat diseases like AIDS and cancer. The company has doubled its sales this year in the first five months compared to last year, and doubled its number of employees (60) since last fall.

Photo courtesy of Accuri Cytometers

The business’s third product area of intravenous pumps is poised to launch.

“Getting our products launched is one of our challenges, given the current economic environment, and that is true on a global basis.

It is hard for a hospital to get money for equipment,” said Keely. Delphi’s high precision infusion pumps will uniquely incorporate safety software, preventing accidental dosing outside of the specified parameters.

The barriers of cost, complexity, and space requirements for standard flow cytometers are broken with the compact, affordable, easy-to-operate version developed by Accuri Cytometers.

“We think our market potential is $300400 million a year,” said Ball. Currently the company has less than 5 percent of a $1.5 billion-a-year market.

Last year Accuri nailed down $15 million in venture capital funding, and this July the company received $4 million in Series D financing from a consortium that included Fidelity Biosciences, Flagship Ventures, Baird Venture Partners, Arboretum Ventures and InvestMichigan.

The business has opened European facilities in the last year, and the cash influx is expected to help them grow that market and commercialize their Accuri C6 Flow Cytometer.

The challenge of managing their growth is the kind of challenge that other businesses wish they had. “It’s always difficult to hire enough people fast enough,” said Ball. Accuri is sharing the insights gained from this period of high-growth by offering a creativity award and free cytometers for innovative uses of their product.

Integrated Sensing Systems’ Fluid MEMS Chip May Revolutionize Congestive Heart Failure Treatment Doug Sparks introduces himself to friendly strangers on a plane by saying his employer in Ann Arbor has been manufacturing micromachine chips—computer chips with moving parts—since 2003. “No one else makes a fluid chip,” said Sparks, Integrated Sensing Systems, Inc. (ISSYS) senior scientist. The product can sense chemical concentration, density, mass, and flow for medical and scientific applications.

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In fact, an ISSYS microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) chip may have actually helped adjust the fuel of the plane Sparks is chatting in. “Now that fuel prices are going up, we’re getting more requests for a chip that is currently on airplanes all over the world,” said Sparks.

The ISSYS microfluid sensor also has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of congestive heart failure patients, which includes five million individuals in the U.S. alone. Currently, methods to determine heart strength may be dangerous (a catheter in the heart) or imprecise (weighing a patient to determine weight gain from fluid retention). However, pending FDA approval, their batteryless telemetric sensor can be implanted in the heart’s left ventricle or aorta and transmit the heart’s status wirelessly via radio waves to doctors holding a companion reader.

The ISSYS microfluid sensor also has the potential to revolutionize the treatment of congestive heart failure patients, which includes five million individuals in the U.S. alone.

In the meantime, the sales of the flow sensor were helped by an influx of $20 million in the last year. New strategic partner Endress+Hauser is helping develop and sell the microfluidic products. “We’ve grown in the last year by 20 percent, as opposed to everyone else laying people off,” said Sparks.

Three

generations of

ISSYS

pressure sensors laid on a

penny demonstrate the progressive size reductions that enable the development of smaller medical devices.

BioMatters | Fall 2009

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BioMatters | Fall 2009

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Photos courtesy of Essen Instruments

Essen Instruments Markets a “Microscope” in an Incubator

The electronic head designed by Essen Instruments is a key component of the company’s IonWorks planar patch, high throughput electrophysiological instrument which measures the properties of ion channels in isolated cells.

Essen Instruments is a small Ann

Anyone who has purchased a

Arbor company that provides exciting

promising-sounding, but awkward,

options for biotech businesses and

piece of equipment will appreciate

academic laboratories using instru-

Essen’s design process. “The instru-

ments to analyze cell-based assays

ments we make are user friendly.

for drug discovery. Since 1990, the company has invented three products:

Essen’s VP and Chief Scientific Officer, Vince Groppi, stresses the depth of the company’s staff as one of its main strengths.

l FLIPR (Fluorescent Imaging Plate

Since our biologists are on staff, our engineers don’t have to imagine what a biologist needs. That would be

Reader), the first high-throughput cell-based screening

like building a kitchen without consulting a cook,” said Groppi.

instrument in the industry.

In the last year, Essen has added sales of reagents to its

l IonWorks, the first commercially-available high-throughput

income stream, through a strategic alliance with TCS Cellworks

in the UK. Currently, Essen’s business income is 80 percent

electrophysiology platform.

l IncuCyte , the first automated imaging system designed

instruments and 20 percent services, but its business plan in

the next four years is to utilize its sophisticated biology group

TM

to fit “inside” a standard cell culture incubator.

Customers can buy the instruments, or Essen will run the

to increase the services side to the level of instrument sales.

assays fee for service. “What is unusual is that we have an engineering group in the same proximity as the sophisticated

“What is unusual is that we have an engineering group in the same proximity as the sophisticated biology staff that does the assays, and a software group that does analysis of data.”

biology staff that does the assays, and a software group that does analysis of data,” said Vince Groppi, vice president and chief scientific officer.

Essen employs 36 people in its 14,000 square-foot Michigan

facility, and a sales force of four in Europe to sell its IonWorks and IncuCyte products. FLIPR is manufactured and sold by

Molecular Devices Corporation in California; Essen runs assays

solving, the recession is a challenge that is manageable.

For a company like Essen that thrives on problem

on the device for customers.

“The time to make a decision has lengthened because

IncuCyteTM is now used by all major pharmaceutical

everyone was spooked. We are getting clients now who are

companies to quality-control cell culture. “It connects to a

confident to make a decision in a timely matter. Our plan

computer network, so you can watch cells grow and change

is to show we are flexible—providing services and sales of

without ever opening the door of the incubator, which keeps

reagents—so we continue to try and find the best path

the environmental conditions inside stable,” said Groppi.

forward,” said Groppi.

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BioMatters | Fall 2009

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BioMatters | Fall 2009

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p h a r ma c e u t i c als a n d t h e r ap e u t i c s

Michigan Companies Aim to Burst the Healthcare Bubble

Anyone taking the time to understand Michigan’s pharmaceutical industry may be surprised and impressed, for reasons that include: Impact:

History:

Innovation:

Perrigo manufactures 35 billion tablets annually, and is the world’s largest manufacturer of over-the-counter pharmaceutical products for the store-brand market.

JHP Pharmaceuticals is a new business manufacturing intravenous medications in a historical location.

Its sterile factory site has manufactured continually since 1903, when it produced the first FDA-approved vaccine in the U.S.

Eloquest’s latest product speeds the onset of a topical anesthetic, reducing those anxiety-filled moments before a needle is administered.

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BioMatters | Fall 2009

p h a r ma c e u t i c als a n d t h e r ap e u t i c s

By Deb Merion

Photo courtesy of Perrigo

All three businesses are actively working to restrain our country’s ballooning healthcare costs by lowering costs and raising quality, whether their products are dermatological (Eloquest), intravenous (JHP Pharmaceutical), or oral (Perrigo).

Perrigo Perrigo is a 122-year business with $2 billion in annual sales. They produce over 1,000 over-the-counter medications each year, including Nyquil, Pepto-Bismol, Robitussin, Tylenol, Advil, and Prilosec.

Although the business name may not have the brand name prominence of Kellogg or Ford, it is doubtful that few in Allegan are unaware of Perrigo—the business employs 2,800 there, and the population of the town is barely twice that.

Perrigo is the world’s largest manufacturer of OTC pharmaceutical products for the store brand market. Its primary markets are the U.S., U.K., Israel, and Mexico.

to 2008. “When you think about the aging population and rising healthcare costs, we are in a perfect spot to help people save money on healthcare,” said Shannon.

The business manufactures the medications for both brand names and store products, such as Meijer or CVS. “Every major retailer is a client of ours,” said Art Shannon, vice president, investor relations and communications.

When medications switch from prescription to over-the-counter (OTC), such as Prilosec and Zyrtec did recently, Perrigo jumps into the market in the big way. “We are the largest player in producing medications that have switched from prescription to OTC,” said Shannon.

To meet the challenge of increasingly stringent quality requirements from the FDA, the business added a massive quality systems approach last year costing $15 million. Signs remind employees ‘your son or daughter is taking this product later today.’

The investments are paying off for investors and healthcare consumers. Traded under PRGO on NASDAQ, Perrigo had double-digit gains in earnings from 2007

Photo courtesy of JHP Pharmaceuticals

“Every major retailer is a client of ours.”

JHP manufactures

and sells brand aseptic injectable

pharmaceuticals in hospital and clinical settings and provides global contract manufacturing services which involve liquid, lyophilized and suspension presentations.

JHP Pharmaceuticals Quality and cost are also major issues for JHP Pharmaceuticals in Rochester. The firm sells primarily aseptic products for acute care in hospital settings. “There is a high quality needed when you are injecting something into the blood stream. People want something manufactured in the U.S.” said Stuart Hinchen, co-founder, with Peter Jenkins, of JHP Pharmaceuticals.

The two men bought the business from King Pharma in 2007 for $90 million. “To go and build the factory alone would cost $150 million,” said Hinchen.

“We love Michigan in terms of our site, the people, the first class support we get from Rochester, and we have good support from the union. They are interested in the longterm success of the company,” said Hinchen.

Three hundred people work at the factory.

JHP produces its own line of pharmaceuticals including Pitocin—an intravenous medication familiar to pregnant women as a way to hasten the birth process—and offers a complete range of contract manufacturing services to clients in pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals.

“We love Michigan in terms of our site, the people, the first class support we get from Rochester, and we have good support from the union.”

“Contract manufacturing is up because pharmaceuticals like Pfizer, etc. have taken on a different strategy where they don’t do all of their own manufacturing. Estimates are for a 12 percent increase each year,” said Hinchen. The company is in discussions to produce the H1N1 swine flu vaccine.

That vaccine would be added to a long list of vaccines produced at this historical site, now owned by JHP. Vaccines previously produced there include the polio vaccine, invented by Dr. Jonas Salk at the University of Michigan in 1955, and diphtheria antitoxin, produced there by Parke-Davis in 1903 under the first U.S. Biological License ever granted. continued on page 18

BioMatters | Fall 2009

16

p h a r ma c e u t i c als a n d t h e r ap e u t i c s

Cerise Nutraceuticals Uses Cherries to Boost Michigan and Individual Health Cerise’s promotional information says its products can address Photo courtesy of Cerise Nutraceuticals

dozens of problems from acne, bursitis and cancer to Parkinson’s and shingles. How can one small red fruit help so many problems?

“Ninety percent of our health issues are related to inflammation and digestion. Balance these problems and your body functions start working like they should,” said Pleva.

Still, Pleva’s anecdotal experience has produced dozens of pages of testimonials.

Like other nutraceutical manufacturers, Cerise wants to

avoid running afoul of regulation. “We don’t claim to heal; our products help the body help itself back into its comfort zone,” says Pleva. The Cerise website says, “The information stated here has not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate or prevent any disease.”

Still, Pleva’s anecdotal experience has produced dozens of

pages of testimonials that are difficult to ignore. One example: “After suffering from frozen feet while serving during “Battle of

Ray Pleva, CEO of Cerise Nutraceuticals, actively promotes the positive health benefits of cherries. The company’s website says “cherries are the new superfruit.”

the Bulge” in WWII, I have suffered in the winters with my feet burning, especially at nighttime. Then, after five or six applica-

When Mary Poppins first sang “Just a spoonful of sugar

tions of your Cerise Joint and Muscle Comfort Lotion, I am totally

helps the medicine go down,” no one could have predicted

free of the burning sensations and can sleep like a baby,” said

the rise of the $110 billion nutraceutical market, where the

Clarence Weber of Traverse City, Michigan.

food IS the medicine.

Cerise Nutraceuticals in Traverse City produces products

research at MSU, University of Michigan, and Central Michigan

leveraging the 17 antioxidants found in juicy, red, tart

University involving cherries’ positive effects on Parkinson’s,

cherries. “Ninety percent of the business so far has been

Alzheimer’s, and Huntington’s diseases.

in research development,” said CEO Ray Pleva.

Cerise purchases its cherries in Michigan, pumping the market

Also, Pleva easily cites completed and in-process scientific

of the largest tart cherry producer in the country. Although the

The fruit has the potential to inhibit colon cancer tumors, reduce inflammation, and increase sleep-producing melatonin.

creams and capsules are manufactured out of state, Pleva is planning to open a manufacturing center in Michigan as sales increase.

It may come as no surprise that Pleva grew up on a cherry farm. His family also ran the local butcher shop, and Pleva’s innovation in the meat business was a cherry-enhanced meat

His efforts to promote his products’ effectiveness are

product called Plevalean, sales of which have backed his cherry

starting to create an impact as difficult to ignore as a red

nutraceutical research for 21 years.

cherry stain on a white shirt.

The tenacious enthusiasm and consummate salesmanship for

The fruit has the potential to inhibit colon cancer tumors,

cherries that have landed him on television with Oprah Winfrey

reduce inflammation, and increase sleep-producing melatonin,

and Tim Allen show no sign of diminishing.

according to University of Texas and Michigan State University

Recently, Pleva met with Michigan Governor

research.

Granholm when she visited Traverse City

to give her some free products, and

Michigan State University scientists helped Cerise patent a

process to create capsules from cherries and combine them with

also started a partnership with fit-

kalaya oil, which is rich in omega 3 fatty acids. In addition to

ness expert Peter Nielsen to market

the $35.95 bottle of capsules, Cerise’s cherrylotion.com website

his products on his television show,

sells creams and lotions. Product costs range from $15.95 for

“Peter’s Principles.” “With your

Cherry-Lavender Hand & Body Lotion or Unscented Head & Body

backed-up research, great products,

Lotion to $35.95 for Facial Skin Solution or Joint and Muscle

and your passion, it’s a WOW,” said Nielson.

Comfort Lotion.

19 17

BioMatters | Fall 2009

M RE ph ASNU aErAma FA RCH CTURING c e u t i c als a n d t h e r ap e u t i c s

Eloquest Another relatively new firm in Michigan also selling pharmaceuticals to the acute care market is Eloquest Healthcare. The firm spun off as a wholly-owned subsidiary from the Ferndale Pharma Group, Inc. group in 2008.

Timothy P. O’Halla, Eloquest vice president & COO, explained that Ferndale Pharma created the spinoff to focus on smaller business channels—in this case helping hospitals improve dermatological outcomes. Eloquest’s products include drug products and devices that minimize dermal pain, preserve and/or repair the integrity of the skin and ensure the integrity of devices adhered to the skin.

Their latest device, to be launched in 2010 with co-promotional partner Echo

The spinoff concept is proving a wise decision by Ferndale, whose business acumen since 1897 had made it one of the oldest businesses in Michigan.

Therapeutics, is a handheld product that helps painlessly remove the top level of skin to speed the onset of a topical anesthetic.

O’Halla estimated that their portfolio product share is 20 percent of a $130 million market, with a client list that includes Henry Ford Health System, William Beaumont Hospital, University of Michigan Hospital, Texas Children’s Hospital, UCLA Medical Center, and Vanderbilt University Hospital.

Ferndale Laboratories manufactures most of Eloquest’s products, allowing

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www.ashstevens.com BioMatters | Fall 2009

18

Eloquest’s 20 employees to focus on sales, marketing and business development.

The spinoff concept is proving a wise decision by Ferndale, whose business acumen since 1897 had made it one of the oldest businesses in Michigan. Eloquest anticipates an increase from $16.5 million in net sales for 2008 to $19 million in 2009.

All three pharmaceuticals’ unique strengths are notable at a time when the Obama administration’s mantra is healthcare reform. “Like others, I’ve been trying to figure out how to play President Obama’s policy initiatives in healthcare,” says Glenn Rogers, a contributing editor to Internet Wealth Builder, “I think the generic drug makers have the best chance of coming out of the upheaval in healthcare smelling like roses.”

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BioMatters | Fall 2009

p h a r ma c e u t i c als a n d t h e r ap e u t i c s

Nutrilite Brand a World Leader in Nutritional Supplements

By David Bardallis supplements has enjoyed more than seven decades of

Growth in Global Market for Supplements Accelerating

success but, with today’s increased emphasis on preven-

tive health care and wellness, it’s poised to ride a wave

growth in the numbers of those health-conscious

of even stronger global growth.

consumers, including dissatisfaction with the rising costs

Ada-based Alticor’s Nutrilite brand of nutritional

A variety of factors are leading to the explosive

of conventional drugs, a large baby boomer population

From One Man to a $3-Billion Global Business

seeking to mitigate the effects of aging, a renewed focus

Nutrition pioneer Carl Rehnborg debuted Nutrilite in

increased perception that natural products are better or

1934, making it the first multivitamin/multimineral sold

healthier than synthetic ones. In just the past decade,

in North America. In the 1950s, Nutrilite distributors Rich

Nutrilite has seen its sales increase by greater than

DeVos and Jay Van Andel expanded on Rehnborg’s existing

250 percent.

multilevel marketing system, eventually creating what

would become Amway in 1959.

continue to grow as baby boomers age and preventive

Today, Michigan-based Alticor, the parent company of

care becomes an increasing priority,” said Hartwig.

on “an ounce of prevention vs. a pound of cure,” and an

“We anticipate that the market for supplements will

Amway, the Nutrilite product line is the world’s leading

Pushing the Boundaries of Nutritional Science

brand of vitamin, mineral, and dietary supplements, enjoying global annual sales that topped $3 billion in 2008.

Nutrilite is ideally positioned to meet the growing demand for nutritional supplements. Its ever-growing global

“We anticipate that the market for supplements will continue to grow as baby boomers age and preventive care becomes an increasing priority.”

product line is developed and supported through the work of the Nutrilite Health Institute, which stays on the leading edge of health and nutrition through its international research program drawing on expertise from more than 100 scientists, experts, and educators involved in clinical

“Nutrilite has always stood apart from other supple-

research, product development, and brand education.

ments because of its focus on phytonutrients, the natural

Today the Institute, led by Dr. Sam Rehnborg, Nutrilite

plant concentrates that we grow almost exclusively on

founder Carl’s son, stands at the forefront of nutrigenomics,

our own organic farms,” said Jori Hartwig, vice president,

an emerging scientific discipline that seeks to understand

Amway Global Marketing.

how genes interact with nutrients. As research progresses,

Nutrilite offers more than 200 nutritional supple-

Nutrilite experts anticipate greatly expanding

ments, including tablets, capsules, powder drink

offerings of nutrigenomic supplements, or per-

mixes, and nutritional snacks and bars. Its flagship

sonalized nutrition recommendations designed

product is Double X, a multivitamin/multimineral

around an individual’s genetic predisposition

supplement formulated with nutrients derived

to certain diseases and conditions.

from plants harvested from Nutrilite’s 6,400 acres

Another Successful 75 Years

of organic farms in the U.S., Mexico, and Brazil.

All products are sold through Amway’s network of

Heading into the second decade of the

independent business owners (IBOs) to millions of

21st century, all signs seem to point to

consumers in approximately 55 countries, and

Nutrilite’s continuing success and

Alticor sees these numbers only increasing.

growth as one of the most trusted

brands of supplements. “We are

“Nutrilite has become a recognized brand

globally and is on track for continued market

proud to support the $3 billion

growth in the years ahead as our IBOs continue

Nutrilite brand from Ada, as we

to make deeper inroads with our health-conscious

celebrate the brand’s 75th anniver-

consumers,” said Doug DeVos, president of Alticor.

BioMatters | Fall 2009

sary,” said Amway’s Hartwig.

20

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BioMatters | Fall 2009

TECHN O L O G Y

Michigan is Where IT and R&D Meet to Shape the

Future of Medicine It may be no exaggeration to say that if you want a sneak peek at the future of healthcare in the United States, you need look no further than Michigan,where innovations in information technology and R&D are combining to create a wide array of new products and services that bring the increasingly important arenas of preventive care and personalized medicine to the fore.

By David Bardallis While debate over the public policy aspects of American healthcare continues, many Michigan companies are successfully moving forward with technological advances that are poised to literally revolutionize how medical care is delivered – and received.

Turning Research into Commercial Success In Ann Arbor, decades of research at the University of Michigan have culminated in three spinoff companies that are successfully harnessing the power and promise of IT

BioMatters | Fall 2009

HealthMedia’s innovative approach to preventive, personalized care attracted the attention of pharma giant Johnson & Johnson. and R&D to meet the challenges – including rapidly rising costs – of healthcare in the 21st century.

HealthMedia Inc., founded in 1998 by UM researcher Victor Strecher, marries expertise in behavioral science with a strong

22

knowledge base of healthcare topics and IT to deliver unique “web interventions” aimed at improving patient outcomes while reducing costs. The result: increased productivity and profitability for employers, health plans, pharmaceuticals, and other customers.

HealthMedia’s “health coach in a browser” product offerings provide automated, yet highly tailored coaching on topics ranging from health risk assessment, eating and weight control, and smoking cessation to chronic pain or disease management, sleep improvement, and more.

The success of HealthMedia’s innovative approach to preventive, personalized care attracted the attention of pharma giant Johnson & Johnson, who acquired the company in 2008 and has since made it the base for an entirely new market platform.

Cielo MedSolutions, spun off from UM in 2006, is at the leading edge of a new category of healthcare IT known as clinical quality management systems. Its flagship software product, the web-based Cielo ClinicTM, is helping hundreds of medical offices to organize, track, and utilize clinical data to provide better and timelier patient care. By keeping records electronically, it also provides documentation for generating reports that accurately track physician performance.

“We’re bringing the world of cutting-edge genomic data to cancer drug discoverers and developers.”

“Cielo’s products enhance the quality of patient care, improve practice revenues, and optimize practice efficiency,” said David J. Morin, co-founder and president and CEO of Cielo. “Cielo Clinic helps providers ensure that each of their patients are up to date with their prevention, screening, and chronic disease management needs.”

The company reported a 300-percent increase in revenue and a 400-percent increase in clinical users of its software in 2008. According to Morin, the company’s revenues for this year have already exceeded 2008’s total. “The next five to six years will be interesting for us, with the federal government funding health IT adoption,” he added. “We may see incredible year-overyear growth rates for some time.”

Compendia Bioscience, also spun off from UM in 2006, offers Oncomine, a webenabled platform that allows researchers to access and analyze a massive catalog of molecular data to aid in the development of cancer-treating drugs.

Compendia Bioscience’s

online information solutions for

oncology drug discovery allow scientists to harness a staggering volume of cancer data.

“We’re bringing the world of cutting-edge genomic data to cancer drug discoverers and developers,” said Compendia co-founder and CEO Dan Rhodes. “Scientists at all major pharmaceutical companies use Oncomine to discover new drug targets and which patients are most likely to benefit.”

In 2008, Compendia enjoyed a 300percent revenue increase, and not only did all of its present clients renew their subscriptions to the Oncomine database, three of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies also signed up. As a result of this growth, Compendia expects 2009 will mark its first year of profitability. “We anticipate continued year-over-year growth both in revenues and staff,” added Rhodes. “We’re up to 25 full-time employees and plan to add another five over the next year.”

Using Genetic Data to Create Individualized Care Two other Ann Arbor companies, Gene Codes and Genetics Squared, are pioneering software platforms that enable researchers to, among other things, identify the remains of victims of mass fatalities and develop clinical tests to detect and treat cancer and other diseases.

Gene Codes’s flagship product, Sequencher, has, over the years since its introduction in 1991, become the standard for DNA sequencing and analysis, used by nearly every major pharmaceutical and commercial genomics company in the world. The forensic version of the program has been used to identify victims of the 9/11 attacks and the 2004 tsunami and continues to be used to help identify U.S. soldiers who have died in active duty.

“Gene Codes is uniquely positioned to take technology we have developed for basic researchers and transform it into the kinds

23

of tools that will be attractive to clinicians and their patients,” said Howard Cash, founder and CEO of Gene Codes, which has grown to the point it now has offices in Ft. Myers, Fla.; New York City; and Brighton, England. “Detailed genetic information is going to be used by your personal physician sometime in the near future to help diagnose and predict diseases and select optimal treatments,” he added. “We can debate if we’ll see that level of personalized care in two years or 15, but nobody is saying it’s 50 years away.”

Genetics Squared’s EvolverTM computational platform integrates vast amounts of data for the purpose of creating molecular diagnostic tests, which use genetic information to predict the course of a disease as well as compute the likelihood a disease will recur or respond to a given treatment.

“We’re at the center of the evolving field of personalized medicine,” said Bill Worzel, CEO of Genetics Squared. “We provide doctors with information based on molecular characteristics to help them obtain a more comprehensive picture of an individual’s disease and ultimately make better decisions regarding that individual patient’s care.”

Understanding diseases at a molecular level also has the potential to achieve savings of billions of healthcare dollars, according to Worzel. “Healthcare spending is driven largely by errors – prescribed therapies that ultimately don’t work – at tremendous cost to the system. With the technology being developed, we’ll be able to find the best treatment in the fewest doses for the most patients. The more info we have at the outset, the more effectively we use health dollars.”

“With the technology being developed, we’ll be able to find the best treatment in the fewest doses for the most patients.”

Worzel expects the company’s growth to take off in the early part of 2010, as it releases a molecular test for colorectal cancer.

BioMatters | Fall 2009

T e c h n olo g y

Building an IT Infrastructure to Support 21st-Century Medicine Other Michigan companies are helping medical professionals create and maintain the infrastructure necessary to support the increasing demands of a digital future.

In Grand Rapids, technology consultant Arivium Inc. is providing high-powered IT support to hospitals, clinical research institutions, contract research organizations (CROs) that serve pharmaceuticals, and even providers of sports medicine informatics.

Arivium’s services include setting up and maintaining IT systems that can capture, aggregate, and analyze data that help researchers and physicians better predict, monitor, or understand patients’ pathologies and choose the best courses of action to follow.

Healthcare IT and R&D are combining to drive technoological solutions with the potential to reduce costs, improve care, and foster a revolution in personalized medicine.

“We help clients integrate data and develop software applications and platforms that improve delivery of services to customers.

In the case of our healthcare clients, that ultimately translates into higher quality patient care,” said Darren Brown, founder and president of Arivium.

After a relatively flat 2008 and 2009, Brown forecasts moderate growth in 2010 as the need for healthcare IT expertise

accelerates. “The exposure we’ve gained by working with clients in related, but complementary, industries leaves us optimistic about a more integrated, cost-efficient set of healthcare solutions,” he said.

The Future of Healthcare Is Now The growing fields of healthcare IT and R&D are combining to drive technological solutions with the potential to reduce costs, improve care, and foster a revolution in personalized medicine, where patients’ own genetic data can be analyzed to predict the likelihood of disease as well as diagnose, manage, and treat pathologies in an individualized way. Michigan companies are ideally situated to lead this revolution.

Resourceful Direction for Drug Development MPI Research understands the complexities often associated with drug development decisions, and partners with Sponsors in finding innovative solutions to their development challenges. The comprehensive services offered by MPI Research include: Drug Safety Evaluation • General Toxicology • Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology • Infusion Toxicology • Safety Pharmacology • Neurobehavioral Sciences, including Abuse Liability Resource Services • Clinical Pathology • Histopathology • Regulatory Submissions Publishing (eCTD) • Consulting Services (IND preparation and filing)

Corporate Headquarters 54943 North Main Street Mattawan, MI 49071-9399 USA +1.269.668.3336 www.mpiresearch.com

BioMatters | Fall 2009

Discovery Services • Experimental Therapeutics • Experimental Surgical Models • Molecular Imaging • Immunology • ADME/Pharmacokinetics Bioanalytical/Analytical Sciences • Method Development • Validation to Support Small and Large Molecule Therapeutics Medical Device Evaluation • Regulatory Guidelines (ISO 10993) • Interventional Device Evaluation • Surgical Device Evaluation • Other Models

MPI Research is a global Contract Research Organization (CRO) that performs preclinical and select clinical studies for biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies. The company partners with its Sponsors in moving their test candidates along the regulatory pathway, in an effort to bring better, safer medications and medical products to the world.

24

TECHN O L O G Y

One to Watch: DNA Software Those software products include Visual OMP™ (Oligonucleotide Modeling Platform™), which has become the industry’s gold standard for designing, simulating, and optimizing a variety of advanced nucleic acid-based assays or diagnostic tests (e.g. multiplex PCR and microarrays); and ThermoBLAST™, which quickly and accurately scans DNA and RNA sequences against large genome databases to ensure that diagnostic tests are optimally sensitive and selective.

Photo courtesy of DNA Software

“We’ve refocused our business model and experienced growth in revenue through increased sales, and government funding and contract work.”

DNAS’s software has other applications as well. “Our soft-

ware is used by many prominent research organizations around the world in the government, academic, pharma/biotech, and engineering sectors,” said Machak. “Some winemakers also use

Jeff Machak, VP, Business Development, has reason to smile. DNA Software was recently added to the list of the Edward Lowe Foundation’s “Michigan 50 Companies to Watch” and received a $2.5 million NIH grant to develop nucleic acid-based technologies.

our software to develop diagnostic tests to ensure their batches are pure.”

The company also conducts its own wet lab research. “In addition to off-the-shelf software, we offer contract research,

Ann Arbor-based DNA Software Inc. (DNAS) made the Edward

custom software and web applications, scientific consulting,

Lowe Foundation’s 2009 list of “Michigan 50 Companies to

as well as assay development training,” said Machak. “Several

Watch” for good reason. The life sciences technology company

major biotech and diagnostics companies have hired us to help

is pushing the envelope of what is possible in the field of bioin-

solve their problems.”

formatics, an interdisciplinary area where biological, computer,

Recently, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded

and information sciences intersect to gather and analyze vast

DNAS $2.5 million in grant funding to develop novel nucleic

amounts of data, such as the sequencing of the human genome.

acid-based technologies, including DNAS’s Nucleic Acid CAD™ technology, which expands RNA sequence information into

“Our customers can simulate thousands of complicated experiments using actual conditions with our software before running a single experiment in the lab.”

all-atom 3D structure predictions and models that scientists can use to create better drugs.

“In silico modeling of RNA-based structures, like the ribo-

some, can help scientists accelerate drug discovery and solve important health challenges, such as antibiotic resistance,”

Founded in 2000, the same year scientists first mapped the

said Machak.

human genome, DNAS develops commercial products that allow

researchers to quickly and accurately develop new medical

the past few years, we’ve refocused our business model and

solutions from the information gleaned through the sequencing

experienced growth in revenue through increased sales, and

of DNA and RNA, the nucleic acids that form the basic building

government funding and contract work,” he said. “As a result,

blocks of life.

we’ve doubled our staff within the past year and hired top

talent from Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Siemens. Most

“Our basic value proposition is that scientists can save

Machak expects the company’s success to continue. “Over

significant time and resources by utilizing our software to model

recently, we have expanded our R&D pipeline to create exciting

their experiments on computer rather than performing trial-

new technologies for improved diagnostics development and

and-error experiments in a wet lab,” said Jeff Machak, vice

drug discovery.”

president of business development for DNAS. “Our customers can simulate thousands of complicated experiments using actual conditions with our software before running a single experiment in the lab.”

27 25

BioMatters BioMatters || Fall Fall 2009 2009

Collaboration

in support of

innovation is making new and valuable resources available to assist and educate those with marketable ideas.

Bio Innovation in Michigan Fueled by

Academic-Industry Partnership You have an idea. You think it might be a good one. You think it might even sell. Now what? It doesn’t matter whether you are a student, a researcher, an inventor, or even all three. There are a number of academic-industry programs to help you evaluate, test, and market your idea. You just need to know who to ask for help.

By A. J. Hogg

Beaumont Provides Real World Applications The last few years have shown a burst of activity in creating programs designed to help move innovations from the mind of an inventor to the marketplace. Michigan has a range of resources for biological science innovators creating everything from software to medical devices, or, as John Shallman, director of Beaumont Commercialization Center (BCC) puts it, “from tongue depressors to MRI.” BCC launched in April 2008, with a two-fold mission: first, to be the technology

BioMatters | Fall 2009

The last few years have shown a burst of activity in creating programs designed to help move innovations from the mind of an inventor to the marketplace. development branch of Beaumont Hospitals; and second, to make available the hospital’s resources to the medical device community as a way to support innovative ideas on their way to the market.

That’s a large, long process that starts with idea generation, and moves through market assessment, engineering and process

26

analysis. BCC has a laboratory that can build prototypes — if they can’t build in-house, they know who can. They also help with the regulatory process and reimbursement.

“We understand what the issues are in the hospital,” says Shallman. “We can answer them under one roof,” since Beaumont is a potential user and purchaser of the final product.

“It takes a hospital to really get that info,” explained Shallman. “Specialized surgical staff working and looking at a product – you can’t do that and get real world application unless you’re a hospital.”

Photo courtesy of Beaumont Hospitals

iEC n nOoNvat i o nD EVE L O P M ENT O M IC

BEC has liaisons with entities around the state — economic development agencies, chambers of commerce, small business administrations, and other universities.

He describes his job as the “U’s interface with the business community.” BEC helps connect people in the university’s departments (like MIC) with people they hope to help. “We make useful connections for both sides,” he said.

Photo courtesy of UM BME Dept.

In a similar way, the University of Michigan Medical Innovation Center (MIC) takes advantage of its connection to the University of Michigan Health System. Brenda Jones, MIC’s managing director, said their goal is to “serve the inventors at the University of Michigan throughout the entire campus.” Started in April 2008 MIC also assists companies outside the university, such as medical device developers. And, like Beaumont, they are able to tap into their prototyping laboratory and front line clinician-provided feedback.

“The flagship of our mission,” Jones said, “is our one-year fellowship.” What started as a fellowship in multidisciplinary, team-oriented health technology innovation is expanding next year to allow a company to send an employee still on its payroll to attend the fellowship.

Last year’s initial class of five fellows (business, engineering, and medical students) turned out well — they have already started a company, Tangent Medical.

Jones said, “We got them into an Ann Arbor SPARK boot camp, and through boot camp they made contacts.” Those contacts helped Tangent with funding.

You might not have known that MIC or its fellowship existed at the University of Michigan, but Daryl Weinert, executive director of the University of Michigan Business Engagement Center (BEC), did.

The University of Michigan’s Biomedical Engineering Department fosters collaborations among faculty and researchers. Commercialization of new BME technologies is further enhanced by access to the resources of U-M’s Medical Innovation Center, entrepreneurship institute and medical school.

Photo courtesy of UM BME Dept.

U of M Services Span Spectrum of Entrepreneurship

The BEC works with all fields of business, not just biological science, and interacts with Fortune 500 companies on a regular basis, as well as individual entrepreneurs and everything in between. All of their clients think the university can help them be more successful, even if the university can’t always help. In those cases, BEC has liaisons with entities around the state – economic development agencies, chambers of commerce, small business administrations, and other universities. “We now have better odds to make useful connections,” Weinert said.

“If there wasn’t a BEC, people would enter through all kinds of different doors,” Weinert explained. Some would find who they needed, others wouldn’t. Since BEC opened in December 2007, life science and engineering have been the two biggest points of interest, according to Weinert. So, naturally, BEC maintains satellite offices in the Medical School and the College of Engineering

27

By maintaining a university-wide knowledge base, Weinert’s goal is to help clients.

“We’re going to get them an answer. We can’t always guarantee that the answer is ‘yes,’ but sometimes ‘no’ is just as helpful.” It saves time if you can skip following up ideas that aren’t going anywhere.

After WWII, Wallace Coulter developed a method to count blood cells – the CBC that comes back when you get bloodwork. By automating it, he created a company that did quite well. Jim O’Connell, the director of the Coulter Program, in the University of Michigan’s Biomedical Engineering (BME) Department explained that when Coulter died, his foundation gave money to ten different departments in ten different schools to support basic research along the lines of Coulter’s innovation.

“My role is trying to promote biomedical research,” said O’Connell. “Our job is to support the faculty so university intellectual property can make it out there.”

Like many academic-industry partnerships, the Coulter Program and BME assess proposed technology and find out how much time and money it would take to get a product to market. If it looks promising, they can help find more funding for research, or state and small business grants. If the product is ready to commercialize, they can help get the product ready for market, help make decisions about personnel (not everyone is cut out to be a CEO), as well as make connections to deal with regulation concerns, design, and other details.

O’Connell aims to “find the right stuff that’s already in development” and to provide “people, focus, and direction” in order to “speed up the process of getting great research out of the University and helping patients.”

MTEC Matches Needs of Region with University Resources Jim Baker, the director of Technology and Economic Development (TED) at Michigan Technological University (MTU), has similar goals. He describes TED as in-house commercializing and consulting. “We give a lot of advice and do some of the work,” he explained.

BioMatters | Fall 2009

Photo courtesy of UM BME Dept.

i n n o vat i o n

From first inkling to finished product, innovation in Michigan is moving ahead with the help of an array of creative resources that help get ideas to the marketplace.

TED also operates a satellite of the Michigan Small Business and Technology Development Center (MSBTDC), which allows them to consult for any regional company and help match their technology needs with resources of the university. “We’re in the business of early stage business consulting,” he said. “We serve both internal and external innovators.”

Baker thinks of this as focusing on the “beginnings of a company,” including patent protections, a commercial plan, licensing or starting a company, participation on boards, funding advice (venture and angel), commercialization of grant activity, supporting grant writing activity and marketing.

From first inkling to finished product, innovation in Michigan is moving ahead with the help of an array of creative resources that help get ideas to the marketplace.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America

PhRMA MEMBER COMPANIES ARE COMMITTED TO SUPPORTING ECONOMIC GROWTH & FURTHER RESEARCH THAT LEADS TO GOOD JOBS & THRIVING COMMUNITIES.

BioMatters | Fall 2009

28

MSU Business-CONNECT

links your business to world-class knowledge experts.

MSU Business-CONNECT can help you leverage Michigan State University’s wealth of resources, efficiently and effortlessly, helping you tap into areas of the university you might not have known existed.

Whether it’s biofuels and biomaterials, sustainability or supply chain, Business-CONNECT can be your single point of contact to put the right resources and people together to make it happen.

—Work with our faculty researchers to develop new ideas, help reduce your ideas to practice, or refine and test your products.

—Partner with us to bring MSU faculty innovations to market.

Connect your business to MSU today! businessconnect.msu.edu

Charles Hasemann, Executive Director ∙ bconnect@msu.edu

oi s B

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BioMatters | Fall 2009

DBA-A - BioMatters Ad_printready_outlined.pdf 3/12/2009 1:52:54 PM

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Intellectual Property Design Engineering Usability Testing Prototyping Clinical Trials FDA Approval

It’s just what the doctor ordered.

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Oakland is a known leader in many applied research disciplines, including biomedical research, manufacturing, information technology, alternative energy/power train and homeland defense. To foster emerging discoveries, the university features several noted research centers, including the Fastening and Joining Research Institute, Center for Biomedical Research and Eye Research Institute.

For further information, contact: T.C. Yih, Vice Provost for Research, (248) 370-2552

Office of Grants, Contracts and Sponsored Research

Anyone who has ever had a good idea knows you can’t nurture it alone.

It takes a hospital. One that can help turn your idea into a breakthrough.

Introducing the Beaumont Commercialization Center, with the resources to handle everything from prototyping to clinical trials. And everything in between.

Because at Beaumont, we live for good ideas. Where ideas go to get better.

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BioMatters | Fall 2009

30

Photo courtesy of MSU

i n n o vat i o n

Moving Toward a

Michigan BioEconomy

MSU Product Center for Agricultural and Natural Resources

required expertise not available at the

you probably have a manure problem.

product center,” said Derderian, who

It’s simple biology. A dairy farm, near

brings 35 years of experience running

Bad Axe, was restricted from adding

medical device businesses and consulting

Photo courtesy of MSU

If you have 3,200 head of cattle,

more cows for just that reason. But what if it could install an anaerobic digester to help with the manure and odor problems? Even better, what if it could capture the methane gas given off by the digester, and use it to power an on-site hydroponic greenhouse? And what if that greenhouse grew fresh produce on a year-round basis, supplying Meijer and Spartan stores? Not only does that solve a waste problem, but it converts waste into a revenue stream.

The people who help develop these ideas work for Michigan State University’s Product Center for Agricultural and Natural Resources. When founded in

MSU’s Product Center is fostering a dynamic bioeconomy.

Anaerobic digesters capture methane gas from manure and use it to power a related greenhouse, solving a waste problem and converting it into a revenue stream.

MSU’s Product Center now works to find new ways to produce fuels and chemicals from biomass instead of petroleum, in order to reduce reliance on oil and to take advantage of Michigan raw materials. A bioeconomy.

2003, the Product Center focused on

with independent Michigan startups.

The Product Center expansion is in its early stages, but Derderian sees himself as “a porthole to the university, bringing clients and university technology together.”

Already, the Product Center

has been fostering this connection in the northern lower peninsula, where there are many fallow fields. As a way to better use them, a group of growers looked at how Canadians used similar land – they grew canola. Canola likes mediocre quality soils, can overwinter, and has a relatively short growing season. A good fit. This fall 500 acres are ready for harvest from 34 test plots

agricultural startups, where MSU’s expertise in food science

near Central Lake, just southeast of Traverse City.

could be tapped: kitchen licensing, shelf-life, packaging, and

marketing. The Product Center still works with agriculture

is a clear connection to biodiesel production, and the Product

startups, but it decided in 2008 to expand. Associate Director

Center has been able to connect biodiesel producers with

Ruben Derderian now works to find new ways to produce fuels

MSU’s chemical engineering experts to help smooth out

and chemicals from biomass instead of petroleum, to reduce

production. Since canola is high in healthy omega 3 fatty

reliance on oil and to take advantage of Michigan raw materials.

acids, the Product Center can use its connections in food

A bioeconomy.

science to explore food use and marketing. And once the oil

is pressed from the seeds, the remaining meal makes a good

MSU hired Derderian last October to build bioeconomy

connections with the university’s chemical and materials

Because canola has a higher oil content than soy, there

foodstock for pigs, converting a waste product into value.

experts. “In order to properly support these products, it 33 31

BioMatters BioMatters || Fall Fall 2009 2009

r e s e a r c h p r od u c t s

State’s Biotech Companies Are Making Their Presence Felt

Photo courtesy of Neogen

Michigan biotech companies are rapidly growing their presence on the world’s stage, selling their products to a diverse customer base all around the globe.

By Steve Raphael Many of their products measure various biomarkers of physiological and biochemical functions in blood or other body fluids, explains Stephen Rapundalo, president and CEO of MichBio. The companies either sell their reagents as components and/or package them as kits for sale to their clients, primarily drug companies, universities, research institutions, clinicians and the federal government.

As companies grow they “strengthen their bottom lines and bring money into Michigan’s economy.”

As these Michigan biotech companies grow “and their products extend out globally, the companies strengthen their bottom lines and bring money into

BioMatters | Fall Fall2009 2009

Developing new products is just one way Neogen builds sales.

Michigan’s economy,” Rapundalo says.

Just as importantly “they also help reshape and strengthen Michigan’s image as a biotechnology center.”

Diverse Product Line Drives Sales at Neogen Lansing-based Neogen was formed 27 years ago to utilize technology developed at Michigan State University in an attempt to diversify the Michigan economy away from autos and into biotech. Its first product was a grain test for naturally occurring toxins.

Since then the company has expanded and diversified its product line, developing, manufacturing and marketing a diverse line of products dedicated to food and animal safety.

32

It makes more than 200 diagnostic test kits to detect everything from food-borne bacteria to food allergens. For the animal market it makes two immune stimulants, instruments, pharmaceuticals and an equine botulism vaccine manufactured in Lansing.

“By bringing food safety back inside the farm gate, (we) hope to keep animals healthy to keep the food supply safer,” says Rod Poland, director of corporate communications.

Neogen has a significant presence in four American cities (Lansing and St. Joseph, MI Lexington, KY and Randolph, WI), as well as Scotland, Shanghai and Mexico. It operates in a multi-billion-dollar international market, and Poland believes the company ultimately can grab about $1 billion of it annually.

Currently the company derives 40 percent of its revenues from international markets, a percentage that it would like to grow eventually to 66 percent, he adds.

Assay Designs Wins with Smart Marketing The biotech companies have put together comprehensive marketing campaigns to win their way in the international marketplace.

Perhaps the best marketing strategy belongs to Assay Designs. In March, the company was purchased by New York City-based Enzo Biochem Inc., a publicly traded company, for $12.2 million.

That’s a “very fair statement,” says David Goldberg, Enzo Biochem’s vice president of corporate development. “What we give (them) is the ability to piggy back onto our infrastructure. They gain exposure by being part of our bigger marketing organization.”

Former Assay President and CEO Daniel Calvo couldn’t agree more. Through its new relationship, the 17-year-old company is now set “to achieve accelerated growth and a stronger market position than (we could have) accomplished as a standalone company,” he says.

Enzo Biochem developed the technology and platform currently in use for the identification of human papilloma virus. Its

Photo courtesy of Cayman Chemical

To get there means more of the same strategies the company has employed for years, notably building and maintaining personal relationships with clients and distributors, primarily through telephone sales calls. To reach its food safety market, the company calls more than 100 distributors.

For its veterinary market, there are veterinaryspecific distribution groups available, as well as direct sales to customers.

Introduction of new products, expansion of international markets and acquisitions and strategic alliances are other means the company will use to help generate even more sales, he adds.

The strategy has resulted in a “remarkable record” for revenues and profitability over the years, Poland says. The company has made money for 16 years, recorded sales of $118.7 million last year and employs about 500 people. Ultimately Neogen’s best marketing strategy is its products. It says its diagnostic test kits are less expensive, easier to use and provide greater accuracy and speed than many of its competitors’ products.

Cayman Chemical manufactures, analyzes and sells more than 3,500 bio-chemicals, antibodies, enzymes, and assay kits.

technology also plays a role in a number of diagnostic kits used to identify and quantify other viral infections, as well as in some cytogenetic applications to determine diseases of genetic origin.

Assay Designs makes immunoassay kits, bead-based multiplex assays, antibodies, and proteins, including Stressgen brand kits and reagents for cellular stress research.

This complementary product line comes with “very strong brand equity,” Goldberg says. “When we go to trade meetings all we have to do is (display) the Assay Designs product and it’s a no brainer. Assay Designs’ customer base is very loyal. We could take (its) name off and put ours on their product…we want Assay to keep (its) identity.”

Enzo Biochem has a presence in New York, Pennsylvania, California, Switzerland, Great Britain and Belgium, and works with more than 50 distributors worldwide. The 33-year-old company employs 650 people and generated $100 million in sales last year. Assay Designs employs 80 people and recorded about $12 million in sales last year.

Goldberg says Assay Designs will remain in Ann Arbor, and its senior management team will remain actively involved in Enzo Biochem. Assay Designs will keep its identity and be transformed into a center of excellence, he adds.

Competitor Comparisons and Top-Notch Service are Integral to Cayman Chemical Strategy Growth is the optimal word at Cayman.

It generated $22 million in sales last year

33

and is profitable. Operating in a billiondollar market, the company wants to increase sales to at least $50 million annually over the next five-to-10 years and believes it is “just touching the surface of its market potential,” says Shannon Stacey, vice president of quality and regulatory affairs. It will expand its Ann Arbor facility over the next few years while expanding its marketing activities to ensure growth.

The company manufactures, analyzes and sells more than 3,500 bio-chemicals, antibodies, enzymes, and assay kits. It has branched out into healthcare applications, making a handful of products under the FDA and Good Manufacturing Practices guidelines for use in drug products. The company custom designs all its products and makes them on a contract basis, Stacey says.

Its marketing strategy is as basic as can be: comparative shopping. “One main piece is our ‘Cayman Challenge,’” Stacey says.

“We give any potential new customer using a competitor’s kit our equivalent kit for free.”

Then the customer can use both kits and form his or her own conclusion as to which kit performed best. “We are confident that our kits will out-perform our competitors,” she adds.

Employees also scan the latest scientific research and findings as a means to boost sales.

Operating in a billion-dollar market, Cayman believes it is “just touching the surface of its market potential.”

“As soon as we see the first publication on a relevant biomarker we try to get it out on our product line,” Stacey says. “Maybe someone isolated something and may need a tool. We look for gaps (in a scientist’s research) to see what kinds of products we could provide.”

Then there’s the tried and true. Technical support and customer service “is the key to our strategy and success,” Stacey says.

Cayman employs 265 people, including 165 people in Ann Arbor and another 100 people working in its wholly owned subsidiaries in the Czech Republic, Estonia and Australia.

BioMatters | Fall 2009

TECHN O L O G Y

Nearly 65 percent of its products are sold to customers in the U.S., with the remainder sold worldwide through the company’s distribution network. The company’s diverse array of products “is one of our greatest strengths,” Stacey says.

Strong Fundamentals Propel Oxford Biomedical Research Oxford Biomedical Research Inc. in Rochester Hills is a “strong, research-based company devoted to high quality and reliable performance,” says its president and founder Denis Callewaert. That is the foundation of the company’s success, “as opposed to glitzy marketing.”

The 24-year-old company makes and markets 750 life sciences tools, such as bio-assay kits to measure biomarkers.

Cayman’s bioanalytical assay services help those who don’t have the time or personnel to run their own samples, lack the proper equipment or require customized protocols.

It also sells recombinant proteins and antibodies for biomedical research and drug discovery.

Oxford Biomedical serves 12 clients in Michigan, the largest of which is the National Institutes of Health, and has contracts with 35 overseas distributors.

Company revenues last year were $1.4 million, and Callewaert says the company’s market potential is $200 million annually. To reach that goal the company has embarked on a variety of marketing

strategies, from embracing the Internet to exhibiting at several biotech-related conferences annually.

“We won’t place big ads in trade magazines, but we will help customers pick the right reagents for their work,” he says.

The 25-year-old company - one of four biotech companies Callewaert has started, with three still active - has recently launched a fifth company. That company, Wellness Indicators, offers “a big growth opportunity,” he says. Wellness Indicators will reformat and market specific Oxford products that measure oxidative stress, antioxidant activity and inflammation for the human healthcare market.

Product is the name of the game at Oxford, and by reinvesting profits into research and development, Callewaert is confident the company can grow 10-15 percent annually in the research market.

OPTIMIZING YOUR IP IS A SCIENCE Leveraging your patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets requires a considered Intellectual Property strategy

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34

TECHN O L O G Y

Asterand is a Powerhouse of Growth in Research Products

Asterand went public in 2006 and last year recorded its first

profit of $7.2 million on sales of $28.2 million. The company employs 94 people, including 65 in Michigan. It is traded on the London Stock Exchange and, of 2,000 companies, was the exchange’s best performing stock last year, climbing nearly 160 percent and closing the year at 21 cents a share.

Asterand inherited the London Stock Exchange listing from

Photos courtesy of Asterand

Pharmagene “and stuck with it despite pressures to downgrade to the AIM (the London Exchange’s international market for smaller growing companies) because we were ambitious and thought that we would grow into the full listing,” Coombs says.

Last year, The Scientist magazine named Asterand as one of the

Top 30 “Best Places to Work” in the life sciences industry in a survey

Asterand

was the best performing stock on the

one of the

Top 30 “Best Places

to

Work”

London Stock

conducted with more than 200 biotech companies in the United

exchange last year and was named

in the biosciences industry by

The Scientist

States and Europe. In 2004, The Michigan Economic Development

magazine.

Corp. named Asterand its High Tech Company of the Year.

In just a few short years, Detroit-based start-up company

The company’s client base includes 29 of the top 30 global

Asterand plc has taken its place as one of the top-performing

pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and extends to academic

biotech companies in Michigan.

and government customers. Last year the company completed a

The company has carved out a niche in the human tissue

$2.9 million contract with the U.S. Department of Defense to review,

market, supplying tissue worldwide to pharmaceutical and biotech-

assess and provide recommendations on the optimal research use of

nology companies. Asterand offers unparalleled access to human

its bio specimen repository in Washington, D.C.

tissue through its worldwide procurement network of 83 active

Signs point to the company growing bigger and stronger. “The

collaborative donor institutions.

market for human tissues and human tissue-based services is still

For years drug companies have been

relatively young but is estimated at $700-800

somewhat stymied in their research and

million,” Coombs says. Last year 80 percent of

development as animal tissue was providing

Asterand’s total sales were in North America.

only a partial guide to drug performance in

Thanks to a highly fragmented human tissues

clinical trials, says Asterand CEO, Martyn

and services market, Asterand’s largest competi-

Coombs. Asterand jumped in to fill that market,

tion comes from academic and nonprofit groups

providing human tissue-based models at all

that provide human tissues and services to a few

stages of the discovery process as the concept

internal groups or collaborators, estimated at

gains acceptance.

70 percent of the total market.

Asterand works with a “very specialized set

Coombs says Asterand’s position as “the

of research products,” says Stephen Rapundalo,

largest, most well-recognized commercial com-

president and CEO of MichBio, the state’s bio-industry trade association. The company is “a true innovator in the up and coming bio-banks sector worldwide, and today provides high quality, well-characterized human tissue and human tissue-based research services.

Asterand was started in 2000 by Randal

Charlton and Oxford Bioscience Partners and

pany in this field — we estimate at least twice Martyn Coombs, Asterand CEO, sees a future of expanded products, more sales people, and collaborations, along with a larger supply network for the company.

Last year, The Scientist magazine named Asterand as one of the Top 30 “Best Places to Work” in the life sciences industry

the size of other commercial competitors” — will facilitate the company’s future growth.

The company also is more able to custom tailor its products than a local academic center or small commercial player, he adds.

According to Coombs, Asterand’s future sees expanding its supply network, extending

worked out of the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute in Detroit.

its product offerings and hiring more sales people as well as forming

In 2006, it merged with Pharmagene,a drug discovery company

stronger collaborations with local Michigan centers of excellence.

based in Royston, Great Britain. Asterand continues to maintain an

The company will also keep a sharp eye out for acquisitions and

office in Royston.

mergers, Coombs says.

37 35

BioMatters | Fall 2009

Guest Opinion

My Opinion

Advancing Michigan Bio-Industry Growth Through Education & Advocacy

BioMatters | Fall 2009

By Joe Schwarz, M.D. and Kim Ross-Jessup The biosciences industry globally is predicted to see significant and steady growth as the healthcare needs of an aging population magnify. Michigan has a strong foundation in the biosciences courtesy of a recognized heritage in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, industrial bio-based technologies, contract research, research products, diagnostics and others. The state’s primary research universities have been powerhouses in bioscience R&D funding and discoveries. The challenge for Michigan will be to sustain bio-industry growth both as an economic engine and a source of healthcare innovation. This will require a supportive business and regulatory environment, and a portfolio of resources, especially access to investment capital, established with public sector assistance. Advocacy for these key elements of industry success is essential if Michigan is to be a “player” in the global bio-economy.

Decisions made in Lansing or Washington can directly help or harm the success of bioscience companies. Addressing opportunities and threats with policymakers is one of the most critical factors for the success of our highly competitive industry. That is why MichBio has built an advocacy infrastructure to represent its members’ interest and seeks to influence decision makers on issues such as commercialization resources, capital formation, business and tax climate, regulatory requirements, economic development, and more.

Michigan has a complete advocacy infrastructure in place for its bio-industry. MichBio instituted a Policy & Legislative Affairs Committee to develop state and federal policy agendas.

Michigan has a Bioscience Legislative Caucus, a group of legislators that are interested and support the industry. The state is alone in having standing subcommittees in both its House (New Economy and Quality of Life Biosciences Subcommittee) and Senate (BioTech Task Force on Economic Development). This is a veritable one-two-three punch to develop legislative initiatives that will help grow the state’s biosciences industry. Working in partnership with regional organizations and partners, MichBio now leads an ongoing dialogue with the various groups our technology affects to create science-based policy and better awareness of our industry.

Investment is needed now if we want to see some of the glorious predictions of a bright medical future come true. We must aggressively invest resources to foster a better understanding of the science, technologies, and products emerging from our bioscience research labs and manufacturing facilities. Educating decision makers, and more importantly, healthcare consumers will result in better acceptance of new treatments, devices and diagnostics that will improve our quality of life and help protect the industry from attacks stemming from anxieties over innovation.

An informed public supportive of science will also help develop a more knowledgeable talent pool for the future. All together, the benefits of better understanding and advocacy for our business will greatly aid the bio-industry’s growth in Michigan.

Sustaining Michigan’s biotech industry requires integrated public policy if we are to reap its economic benefits. MichBio is dedicated to informing our decision-makers of the value our industry offers for the state’s future and the well-being of our citizens. Our common agenda should be the success of Michigan’s bio-industry.

Dr. Schwarz and Ms. Ross-Jessup are co-chairs of the MichBio Policy & Legislative Affairs Committee. Joe Schwarz is a former U.S. Representative (2005-2007), member of the Michigan Senate (1987-2002), and currently serves on the MichBio Board of Directors. Kim Ross-Jessup is Director of Government Affairs (Michigan/Wisconsin) for Pfizer, Inc.

36

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Nurturing an idea into a marketable product and growing it into a dynamic, self-sustaining bioscience company is a process. How do Michigan companies connect with the right people, learn what they need to know, find the resources to keep the pipeline flowing?

MichBio brings the total continuum together. We know the players, the market; and what it takes. We give you access to a valuable network of people representing all facets of the biosciences community. We are your matchmaker, your guru and your standard bearer.

In a state boasting the world’s longest freshwater coastline, with oceans of lakes, where water is a way of life and life is good; in an industry that studies life at its core, MichBio is there to propel Michigan’s bioscience people, products and prospects.

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