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News from the University of Arkansas for Medical
Sciences
| UAMS
Faculty Members Participated in
International Meeting on Biotechnology JULY 19, 2001 | S.
Michael Owens, Ph.D., and Timothy
O'Brien, Ph.D., attended the recent
conference of the Biotechnology Industry
Organization in San Diego, Calif., and
briefed Arkansas legislators on plans for
the Arkansas Bioscience Institute while
they were there.
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Dr. Owens is the Wilbur D. Mills
Chair in Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Prevention in
the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology of
the College of Medicine. Dr. O'Brien is director
of the Biomedical Biotechnology
Center at
the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
(UAMS).
Dr. Owens and Alice Smith, special projects
director for the UAMS College of Medicine,
accompanied Rep. Joyce Elliott (Little Rock) and
Sen. Steve Bryles (Blytheville) to the conference
June 24-27. They attended several informative
sessions at the conference and assessed
Arkansas's position in biotechnology.
Discussion of
state-level initiatives in the biosciences were
favorable to Arkansas. States are more active and
involved in biosciences than at any time in the
past because of public attention to human
genomics and tobacco settlement agreements with
the states. Seventeen states are using tobacco
funds for biotech or life sciences research, but
only three have mandated funds be also used for
commercialization of that research. Presenters
specifically mentioned Arkansas for offering a
tax credit for building biotech facilities and
having a "state biotechnology
strategy."
Rep. Elliott and
Sen. Bryles learned about the importance of
research as the Governor of Iowa talked about the
role of the Governors' Biotech Caucus, of which
16 governors are members. Elliot and Bryles asked
pertinent questions about the role of state
legislatures and key issues and barriers to
future development of research initiatives.
Smith organized
the briefing on biotechnology in Arkansas. Dr.
O'Brien tied together the history, current
status, and future business opportunities that
might arise from the growing number of patented
inventions by UAMS faculty members. Dr. O'Brien
explained the motivation for developing the
technology pipeline and its economic benefits.
Kim Pruitt of the Little Rock Regional Chamber of
Commerce explained the Arkansas Biocities
Coalition rationale for sharing resources to
develop the biotech industry in Arkansas instead
of competing. Curtis Coleman, President and CEO
of Safe Foods Corporation, painted a bright
future resulting from developing a range of
products based on a UAMS patent and, given FDA
approval of the product, growing a company that
will employ up to 100 high-paying jobs in the
next two years. The session ended with Dr. Owens
presenting the general plan for the Arkansas
Bioscience Institute and predicting that it would
be a boon to scientific research and development
in Arkansas.
In addition to
those mentioned above, other Arkansas delegates
to BIO 2001 were:
Kathryn Coleman, Safe Foods; Ron McCarty, General
Manager, Charles River Laboratories-Redfield;
Bill Allaben, Ph.D., Associate. Director for
Scientific Coordination, National Center for
Toxicological Research (NCTR), Jefferson; Alice
Smith, UAMS Special Projects/Federal Relations;
Charles Cook, Technology Licensing, UAMS
Biomedical Biotechnology Center; Kim Pruitt,
Director, Economic Development, Little Rock
Regional Chamber of Commerce and Chair of
Arkansas BioCities Coalition; Joey Dean,
Industrial Development Division, Arkansas
Department of Economic Development (ADED);
Russell Harris, ADED; Tim Allen, ADED; and Stacy
Wyckliffe and Judith Putnam, Research Solutions,
LLC, of Little Rock.
Arkansas exhibits
included: Arkansas BioVentures, promoting nine
start-up companies built around UAMS technologies
and the resources of the UAMS Biomedical
Biotechnology Center; Arkansas BioCities
Coalition, promoting Arkansas companies, federal
labs, research institutions, and the cities of
Little Rock, Fayetteville, Pine Bluff/Jefferson
County, and Stuttgart; Arkansas Department of
Economic Development, promoting Arkansas
incentives and resources for industry
recruitment; and Research Solutions, a clinical
research organization (CRO), placing clinical
trials to test and validate new drugs.
More than 14,000 attendees from 44 countries
attended the meeting.
Links in This
Article
SW Bell Gift: http://www.uams.edu/info/NewsReleases/brinkley.htm
O'Brien Elected: http://www.uams.edu/info/pdfs/SafeCorp.pdf
International Business Venture: http://www.uams.edu/info/pdfs/safefoods.pdf
Biotechnology Industry Organization: http://www.bio.org/
Dr. Owens: http://www.uams.edu/pharmtox/mowens.htm
Biomedical Biotechnology Center: http://biotech.uams.edu/
© 2001 University of Arkansas for Medical
Sciences (UAMS). A single copy of these materials
may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use
only. “UAMS,” “UAMS Medical
Center,” “UAMS Online,” “UAMS
Today,” “uams.edu,” and
“Here's to Your Health” are marks of
UAMS.
03/29/05
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