JSCBB

Boulder’s bioscience industry growing to critical mass

Anonymous — Wed, 18 Apr 2018 06:00:00 +0000

Boulder’s bioscience industry growing to critical mass Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 04/18/2018 - 00:00

Jensen Werley

After years of companies being sold off or growing and relocating, Boulder’s life-sciences sector is showing signs of reaching critical mass.

Companies such as Clovis Oncology Inc. (Nasdaq: CLVS), SomaLogic Inc., Array Biopharma Inc. (Nasdaq: ARRY) and miRagen Therapeutics Inc. (Nasdaq: MGEN) are showing that homegrown businesses can continue to foster momentum and prove to venture capitalists and legacy companies on the East and West coasts that Boulder is a place for biotech, according to those attending BizWest’s CEO Roundtable on Life Sciences at the Jennie Smoly Caruthers Bioscience Building on the University of Colorado Boulder campus Wednesday morning.

“Things have gotten much better,” said Ron Squarer, CEO of Array Biopharma. “Clovis has been here for a while and will maybe be here for a while. Array has a 100-year plan. I don’t plan to make it that long, but we’re not stopping at the products we’re commercializing, we’re doing more research. We’ll see this continue to grow, I hope.”

To grow the critical mass, Squarer said that further collaboration among companies will help. If companies lend their expertise to each other, help place talented people in companies and help startups in the business, it will grow the industry.

Jennifer Jones, vice president of the Colorado Bioscience Association, said the industry is growing, but that companies, especially startups, still struggle with resources.

“We’re seeing it grow, but hear from all members the need to attract capital and talent,” Jones said. “There are lots of discussions about access to capital and how do we address the needs of companies. How do we look at creating a fund or policies? There is a lot of work to do.”

But there are companies who are raising the profile of Colorado’s life-science industry, either by raising funds, commercializing products or going public.

“It’s encouraging, in terms of talent, that we’re able to be known as innovators,” said William Marshall, CEO of miRagen Therapeutics, one of the companies that has gone public.

Marshall said that if Boulder wants to continue to grow its stature in bioscience, one way to do that is to bring in a certain kind of talent, one that won’t leave the area immediately.

“We’ve seen clinical- and late-stage companies see traction in recruiting outstanding executives by hiring a certain phenotype,” he said. “If you look for someone seeking a relentlessly upward pace in their career development, it’s likely they’ll come here, but if they fail, they’ll look for somewhere else to go. But there are lots of executives who have been successful in the past and want to continue to be so, but they’re not concerned with the rapid pace. If something goes wrong, they’re not concerned. That’s how you build that anchor.”

Right now, the bioscience industry sees much of its activity — innovation, talent and capital — gravitating toward two coastal locations, San Francisco and Boston, which leaves Boulder’s bioscience companies not on the coast feeling high and dry.

But CEOs in the region say there are workarounds and plenty of reasons to be in the Boulder Valley.

“There are two centers of gravity: Boston and San Francisco,” said Kyle Lefkoff, founder and general partner of Boulder Ventures Ltd. “Both of those places look like Boulder: They’re regional centers of excellence, and their excellent companies are becoming anchor talents. The best companies in both of those places are being bought, too. Boulder is no different than that.”

Lefkhoff said that extends to Colorado’s perceived capital shortage.

“There’s no lack of access in capital,” he said. “Larry Gold raised $200 million from China for Somalogic. Clovis is running a raise right now. Array has raised a lot. There’s not lack of access, and there are a lot of companies with excellent leadership.”

One possibility, said Tom Hertzberg, head of central U.S. life science and health care for Silicon Valley Bank, is to leverage venture capitalists outside the state who do come to Boulder a few times a year for board meetings. Brynmor Rees, director of the Technology Transfer Office for CU Boulder, agreed, saying it could be a way to provide startups with key introductions, perhaps by gathering key startups together to do presentations for potential investors.

Startups, however, can still struggle with fundraising.

MFB Fertility Inc., a 2-year-old company that helps women track their fertility, first raised money through crowdfunding before creating a product and becoming profitable. To grow, it decided to seek outside investment, but hit a roadblock.

“They said we’re not investable because we don’t have a big enough team,” said Amy Beckley, CEO of MFB Fertility. “Having a product that’s profitable and built ourselves is not enough. It’s a chicken-or-egg situation: How do I get enough money to build a team without getting funding, but they’re not going to fund me until I build a team.”

Tin Tin Su, chief scientific officer and co-founder of SuviCa Inc., said her company has been getting waves of interest, but struggles because of the coastal issue. To counteract that, the company has looked to getting federal funding.

“There’s so much risk involved in this,” Su said. “On top of that, other things count against us like how we’re not on the coast and companies can’t walk over to us.”

Raising capital is possible, however.

“There’s the idea that you need $50 million to start a company,” said Marvin Caruthers, a distinguished professor at CU Boulder and a co-founder of Amgen Inc. and Applied Biosystems Inc. “I never did that. I started on $5 million. You start on a small basis and give other people the opportunity to buy in on a decent price.”

Other opportunities can lie in partnerships, such as the possibility of working with big pharma, said Misha Plam, CEO of AmideBio LLC.

As its critical mass grows, Boulder is poised to lead in some areas of bioscience.

Tom Cech, a distinguished professor at CU and director of the BioFrontiers Institute, shared a story of one company — Arpeggio Biosciences — located in the university’s bioscience building that is leading in RNA research.

“If they were in Boston or San Francisco, they would be sitting of $40 million right now,” Cech said, “because the idea is that good, and the people are that good.”

Looking ahead, Boulder can lead the way in precision medicine — that is, medicine tailored down to the individual based on their specific genetic makeup — thanks to some of the research and innovation done there already.

“It’s thanks a lot to the work of Drs. Cech and Caruthers that we’re uniquely positioned in RNA chemistry and the fundamental technology that unlocks with precision each of these individual drugs,” Lefkoff said. “In 10 years, there’s going to be a proliferation of companies that use that RNA technology.”

Participants

Amy Beckley, CEO of MFB Fertility Inc.; Marvin Caruthers, distinguished professor at the University of Colorado Boulder; Tom Cech, distinguished professor at CU Boulder and director of the BioFrontiers Institute; Pawel Fludzinski, senior business adviser for AmideBio LLC; Tom Hertzberg, head of central U.S. life science and health care for Silicon Valley Bank; Jennifer Jones, vice president of the Colorado Bioscience Association; Kyle Lefkoff, founder and general partner of Boulder Ventures Ltd.; William Marshall, CEO of miRagen Therapeutics Inc.; Misha Plam, CEO of AmideBio LLC; Brynmor Rees, director of the Technology Transfer Office at CU Boulder; Chris Shapard, chief of staff for the Biofrontiers Institute; Ron Squarer, CEO of Array Biopharma Inc.; Tin Tin Su, chief scientific officer and co-founder of SuviCa Inc. and Jonathan Vaught, CEO of Front Range Bioscience Inc.

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JSCBB earns LEED platinum rating

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 06:00:00 +0000

JSCBB earns LEED platinum rating Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 10/24/2012 - 00:00

BioFrontiers

JSCBB earns LEED platinum rating

The University of Colorado Boulder’s Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology building has received a LEED platinum rating -- the highest possible evaluation -- from the United States Green Building Council.

The 336,800-square-foot research and teaching facility opened in April on the university’s east campus. More than 60 faculty and 500 researchers, staff and students work inside, tackling a wide swath of challenges from cancer and heart disease to the development of new biofuels. LEED certification is a national benchmark for sustainable design, construction, operation and maintenance.

The building posed intense energy and water needs as well as complex safety requirements. “Earning LEED platinum rating for such a large research building highlights the engineering challenges of providing safe and practical research space while ensuring the highest level of sustainability,” says Moe Tabrizi, Director of Campus Sustainability.

The result is a building that is 30 percent more energy and water efficient than recently built, code-compliant buildings with a similar function. One tactic used by designers was to group labs with similar functions near each other in the building, centralizing common lab equipment and maximizing the efficiency of energy use, ventilation and heat recovery. The building’s mechanical and electrical systems incorporate significant energy savings and resource recovery.

The facility will have an array of large-scale, ground-mounted solar panels to help fulfill its energy needs. It also features evaporative cooling, which is the most energy-efficient cooling method in Colorado’s dry climate; daylight harvesting, lighting controls and LED technology; energy-efficient freezer compressors and lab exhaust fume hoods; low-flow plumbing, and more.

The new building, which is prominent when accessing campus from Colorado Avenue and Foothills Parkway, also blends with CU-Boulder’s distinct architectural look.

“This project demonstrates that we can achieve a high-performing, technically complex facility that blends our Tuscan Vernacular—or rural Italian—style with the needs of 21st century, cutting-edge, world-class research,” says Paul Leef, Campus Architect.

The design team and campus engineers undertook a meticulous engineering process that combined best practices in green building, LEED requirements, and recommendations from Labs21, a program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy that is dedicated to improving the environmental performance of laboratories.

CU-Boulder is a sustainability leader in higher education. The campus currently has five LEED platinum rated buildings, eight gold rated buildings and one silver. The university is committed to earning golds rating or higher for all new construction and renovations on campus.

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The Dedication of the Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building

Anonymous — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 06:00:00 +0000

The Dedication of the Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:00 BioFrontiers

University of Colorado Boulder Chancellor

Phillip P. DiStefano

invites you to celebrate the dedication of the

Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building

The new home of the Biofrontiers Institute, the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and the Division of Biochemistry

Thursday, April 26, 2012

3 pm to 5 pm

3415 Colorado Avenue

Boulder, Colorado

A reception and open house will immediately follow the dedication and ribbon cutting ceremony.

Self-guided tours of the new facility will be available.

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Biotech building update: LEED certification

Anonymous — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 06:00:00 +0000

Biotech building update: LEED certification Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 09/08/2011 - 00:00

BioFrontiers

A drive westbound on Colorado Avenue puts the new Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building front and center on CU-Boulder’s East Campus. When complete, the building may be the “greenest” academic research lab in the country.

The building, nearing completion, is still tracking steadily for a high LEED Gold rating. In fact, when the building is officially certified in March 2013, it may receive a LEED Platinum certification, the highest given by the U.S. Green Building Council.

LEED certification is the recognized standard for measuring building sustainability. The rating system was created to promote design and construction practices that reduce the negative environmental impact of buildings and improve occupant health and well-being.

The ratings correspond to the number of credits earned in five green design categories:

Sustainable sites
Water efficiency
Energy and atmosphere
Materials and resources
Indoor environmental quality

Research buildings rarely receive a LEED Platinum rating because of the high energy consumption of lab equipment and the water usage required in lab spaces. If the Biotechnology Building achieves a LEED Platinum rating, it will be the largest research lab on campus, and possibly in the nation, to receive the highest rating.

Currently, CU-Boulder is the first university in the country to achieve LEED Gold status. In addition to the Biotechnology Building, the new Williams Village North and the Basketball/Volleyball complex are tracking for Platinum ratings.

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Supporters celebrate building cornerstone

Anonymous — Fri, 20 May 2011 06:00:00 +0000

Supporters celebrate building cornerstone Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 05/20/2011 - 00:00

BioFrontiers

Supporters celebrate building cornerstone

Donors for the Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building and for the CIMB program, gathered on May 9 to celebrate the placement of the building’s cornerstone. To commemorate the event, a time capsule was buried near the building containing a variety of mementoes to be rediscovered 100 years from now.

“This is cutting-edge technology now, and soon to be obsolete,” said CIMB’s Chief Science Officer Leslie Leinwand, as she placed a small, black object in a plastic sleeve into the time capsule. It was an Affymetrix GeneChip, which is a DNA microarray currently used in molecular biology to measure changes in gene expression levels or to genotype mutant genomes.

CU President Bruce Benson’s commencement speech, a Canadian coin and a sealed envelope containing predictions about our society in 100 years were enclosed in the capsule. A heavy copper plaque commemorating those who are constructing the building rests at the bottom of the capsule. Books, magazine articles and letters were also included, as well as photos and documents about the remarkable woman for whom the building is named.

The Biotechnology Building will house researchers, faculty, staff and students in support of a CU system-wide biosciences initiative. The vision for the building is to bring together scientists from various disciplines to collaborate on solutions for a variety of biological challenges. The 330,000 square foot building is expected to open in early 2012.

Read more about the Caruthers Biotechnology Building

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CU bolsters biotech with new building

Anonymous — Tue, 25 May 2010 06:00:00 +0000

CU bolsters biotech with new building Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 05/25/2010 - 00:00

BioFrontiers

A crane hoists materials up to the skeletal third floor of a revolutionary research facility under construction on the University of Colorado's east campus. When it opens in November 2011, the Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building will allow faculty and students to collaborate on fundamental research in new ways.

The facility is viewed as bolstering Colorado's role in the national biotechnology economy by enhancing education and research. The state's burgeoning biotech sector consists of some 380 companies and employs about 16,000 people.

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CU-Boulder Receives $15 Million Stimulus Award for Biotechnology Building Construction

Anonymous — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 06:00:00 +0000

CU-Boulder Receives $15 Million Stimulus Award for Biotechnology Building Construction Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 04/27/2010 - 00:00

BioFrontiers

The University of Colorado at Boulder has received a $15 million grant through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to be used toward the ongoing construction of a revolutionary biotechnology and biomedical research facility where faculty and students will tackle a variety of human health challenges.

Construction of the new facility, which when completed is expected to host more than 60 faculty members and more than 500 graduate students, researchers and support staff, began in September 2009. Faculty and students will use the facility for fundamental research that is expected to make an impact on a wide variety of human health issues ranging from cancer, aging and cardiovascular disease to inherited diseases, vaccine development and regenerative medicine.

The ARRA money was awarded to CU-Boulder's Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology, or CIMB, through the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. CU-Boulder Distinguished Professor and CIMB Director Tom Cech said the new facility will serve as a springboard to further research, teaching and technology at the intersection of the life sciences with the physical sciences, math, computational sciences and engineering.

The new biotechnology facility will bolster Colorado's position in the nation's biotechnology economy, said Cech. The first phase of the building comprising 266,400 square feet is slated for completion in fall 2011, with plans for a 70,400-square-foot addition at a later date. It also will house CIMB faculty from the department of chemical and biological engineering, and biochemistry division faculty from the department of chemistry and biochemistry.

"This is such an appropriate use of ARRA funds, because the Biotechnology Building will create jobs at three stages – construction jobs in the near term, laboratory research positions once the building is occupied, and biotechnology jobs in Colorado over the following years as we work to enhance that industry in the state," said Cech.

Cech said prior to the ARRA award, much of the interior space of the facility now under construction had been destined to remain as shell space pending more funding. "We thank the NIH for approving our request for $15 million, which will build out space for the biochemistry faculty of CU-Boulder," said Cech, who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in chemistry and served as the Howard Hughes Medical Institute president from 2000 to 2009 while retaining his CU faculty appointment.

NIH's National Center for Research Resources, or NCRR, received nearly 1,200 applications for such construction projects totaling more than $10.6 billion. NCRR received $1 billion in ARRA funds for the program, so the success rate for the winners was less than 10 percent.

Before the ARRA grant to CU-Boulder, more than half of the building's $145 million Phase One cost had already been committed, including more than $60 million from the university and more than $30 million in gifts from generous donors. Fundraising efforts for the new facility are ongoing to cover the remaining costs of the full building plan.

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$1 Million CU-Boulder Biotechnology Building Gift Honors Late Boulder Entrepreneur

Anonymous — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 07:00:00 +0000

$1 Million CU-Boulder Biotechnology Building Gift Honors Late Boulder Entrepreneur Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 03/03/2010 - 00:00 BioFrontiers

University of Colorado at Boulder alumna Jane Butcher, who with her late husband Charlie Butcher has played a key role in supporting CU-Boulder's rapidly expanding biotechnology research efforts, has pledged $1 million toward the Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building being built on the university's East Campus.

Jane Butcher's gift will honor Charlie Butcher, who passed away in 2004 and was a successful businessman with a passion for science, social responsibility and innovation. Charlie Butcher's links to CU-Boulder affiliated scientific startup companies spanned more than 30 years, and he played lead roles as a funder and adviser to firms such as Clonetics and NeXagen. Charlie and Jane Butcher also founded the university's biennial Butcher Symposia of Genomics and Biotechnology.

This gift commitment is the latest in nearly $4 million in total gifts the Butchers have made on behalf of CU-Boulder biotechnology. "I would love this to become an internationally recognized center for biotech. I think you have the perfect ingredients," said Butcher, who received her bachelor's degree in 1966 in international affairs from CU-Boulder. "Charlie was a big thinker, and he thought CU was the place this should all happen."

In collaboration with Butcher's gift, biotech industry pioneer Larry Gold -- a biology professor at CU-Boulder since 1970 and current CEO of the biotech firm SomaLogic -- is directing a previously undesignated gift toward the biotechnology building in honor of Charlie Butcher. In recognition of the gifts, the building's auditorium and adjacent foyer will be named in honor of Jane and Charlie Butcher.

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Amgen Donates $1 Million Toward CU-Boulder Biotechnology Building

Anonymous — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Amgen Donates $1 Million Toward CU-Boulder Biotechnology Building Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 01/14/2010 - 00:00

BioFrontiers

Amgen Donates $1 Million Toward CU-Boulder Biotechnology Building

January 14, 2010

Amgen, a global biotechnology company with manufacturing operations in Boulder and Longmont, is giving $1 million toward the Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building, a state-of-the-art research and teaching facility under construction at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

The first phase of the 257,000-square-foot building on CU-Boulder's East Campus, northwest of Colorado Avenue and the Foothills Parkway, is slated for completion in late 2011. The facility will house the university's Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology, or CIMB, the department of chemical and biological engineering, and the biochemistry division of the department of chemistry and biochemistry.

The building has been instrumental in helping CIMB recruit a "dream team" of scientists and engineers led by CU-Boulder Distinguished Professor Thomas Cech, a 1989 Nobel laureate in chemistry and former president of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

"Dr. Cech has not only been a leader in his field, but has advanced opportunities for research for students throughout his career," said Dave Bengston, vice president of Colorado site operations at Amgen. "Amgen's grant demonstrates our confidence in Dr. Cech's vision to further enhance research opportunities for undergraduates and aligns with our company's commitment to advancing science education and biotechnology research."

More form CU Boulder News

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CU Foundation Groundbreaking of biotech building accelerates fundraising efforts

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 06:00:00 +0000

CU Foundation Groundbreaking of biotech building accelerates fundraising efforts Anonymous (not verified) Sat, 09/26/2009 - 00:00

BioFrontiers

Work has officially begun on a new state-of-the-art research and teaching facility that will greatly enhance science and engineering education and discovery at the University of Colorado.

More on this Story from CU News

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