St. Louis Makes Another Biotech Move

How about St. Louis' latest biotech move? This is one you will want to read.

Washington University unveiled plans today for a $300-million initiative to speed the transfer of laboratory advances to medical treatments. The initiative, named Bio Med 21, includes plans for a $150 million, 250,000-square-foot research building to be built in stages at the center of the university's medical campus. A parking garage at Children's Place and Euclid Avenues now stands on the site of the proposed research facility.

The university plans to hire 50 new faculty members to staff the center. Private gifts, federal grants and the university's own funds will pay for the new center. The aim of the push is to help scientists engaged in basic research apply their work to therapies and treatments for patients, said Chancellor Mark Wrighton. The initiative will draw in basic scientists in fields such as chemistry, computer science and engineering, in addition to biologists and other scientists working on the medical campus he said.

The effort could position Washington University at the head of the class of institutions hoping to capitalize on data generated by the Human Genome Project. Federal research dollars could help drive the creation of new jobs in the region. The U.S. Department of Commerce estimates that 29 jobs are created in the local community for every $1 million of funding granted to a university in Missouri. At the heart of the new initiative is $130 million grant to the Genome Sequencing Center at the university.

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