Minnesota officials have confirmed the launch of a biobusiness park near Rochester, along with a potential $1 billion in funding for the state's biotech sector. The 2,325-acre Elk Run biosciences park could attract a number of biotech companies to the southeastern part of the state. Those companies, along with homegrown start-ups, will advance discoveries made at Mayo Clinic, the University of Minnesota and private research groups in the state. The project will be funded by noted venture capitalist Steven Burrill with help from California's Tower Investments.
"The real opportunity is to attract developers from around the world," noted Burrill in an interview with FierceBiotech. "We view this not just as a regional economic development play for southeastern Minnesota, but as a major opportunity to advance the prediction and prevention of disease. We've lived in a world in which healthcare is a 'sickness care' business. But in 10 years healthcare will move to a model focused on prediction and prevention. And the Mayo Clinic is developing technologies that will change the practice of medicine."
In addition to the real estate project, Burrill and Tower will be funding a a private equity/venture capital fund to support development of new technologies. The partners haven't announced yet how the funding will play out. Elk Run will also feature a wellness community, office/warehouse, retail, institutional components and a traditional neighborhood designed residential area.
The potential $1 billion investment could give southeast Minnesota one of the country's leading biotech sectors. Some may find the choice of investing in Minnesota surprising, given that it doesn't have the same presence in the industry as California, Boston or other biotech clusters. But Burrill maintains that Minnesota is perfectly suited for this kind of project.
"The Mayo Clinic is one of the world's leading healthcare institutions, particularly for treating complex diseases. Additionally, there's no question that if you stand on a street corner and wave money, people will come running. Five years ago the power of money wasn't as attractive as it is today. When you combine this funding with the land available at Elk Run, the business community, the device industry, the food industry, and the IT industry all present in Minnesota, it doesn't become as much of a reach as it may seem." He added, "when you look at the confluence of geography, experience and industry, the anchoring of things in Minnesota makes lot of sense."
- check out the press release
- here's the Minnesota Public Radio article
- see the Post-Bulletin brief
ALSO: The Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics--a collaboration between the University of Minnesota, Mayo Clinic and the state of Minnesota--has awarded $5.4 million in research funds for six projects on cancer, neurological diseases, heart disease, gastrointestinal conditions and nanotechnology. Report