News and Events

Good Manufacturing Practice facility to produce new treatments for disease

October 16, 2006

By KAREN GENTRY
MiBiz • kgentry@mibiz.com

GRAND RAPIDS — The Good Manufacturing Practice facility, a result of a partnership between Van Andel Institute and Grand Valley State University, will support the development of new drugs to treat cancer and other diseases for delivery to the marketplace.

The state of Michigan awarded VAI a three-year appropriation of $1.5 million per year to establish the FDA-approved workshop. Federal funding was also received to purchase movable equipment.

A GMP facility is designed to produce highly specialized treatments suitable for use in human clinical trials. In collaboration with VAI scientists, researchers will take drugs through small-scale production and testing stages. This process will make the new drug more attractive to pharmaceutical companies by reducing the risks typically associated with drug development.

"The new facility will provide a critical component to our region’s collective efforts to turn what we discover in the laboratory into treatments that will benefit patients. We will now be able to produce new, high quality pharmaceutical and biological therapies in sufficient quantity and at a reasonable cost for use in clinical trials. Through this partnership VAI will play an expanded role in bringing new drugs to the marketplace," said VAI Chairman/CEO David Van Andel.

Dr. Rick Hay, VAI deputy director for the clinical program, said the partnership is in the process of identifying a site for the facility, with plans to be up and running in a year.

"Basically we have to build a clean room inside an existing structure," Dr. Hay told MiBiz. "The purpose of the facility is to help prepare products than can be FDA approved for use in clinical studies."

Dr. Hay noted a market analysis showed a need for a facility that can produce and package compounds for early clinical use. "It turns out that producing new compounds is not the where the big demand is, but packaging is," Dr. Hay said. He expects the new facility to focus on small class clinical studies — researchers studying 30-200 patients.

Van Andel credited state Sen. Ken Sikkema for his vision and leadership to make the GMP facility a reality. U.S. Rep. Vernon Ehlers R-Grand Rapids proposed the earmark in the FY2004 Labor-HHS Appropriations bill, which resulted in $462,555 of federal funding for the project.

"The Good Manufacturing Practice facility will be a terrific resource for West Michigan as our area becomes a key center for biomedical study," Ehlers said. "It will spur innovation, add to our growing biotech infrastructure and encourage Michigan-based scientists to develop new drugs for clinical trials."

Public funding of private biotech ventures has long been the focus of parties interested in developing the life sciences industry in Michigan including The Right Place Inc.

"We need to make strong financial investments in new technologies if we are serious about growing the life science industry," said Right Place President Birgit Klohs. "This innovative public/private collaboration will enhance discovery, creativity and sustainable business development right here in West Michigan. It eliminates the need to contract with laboratories outside the state and becomes the catalyst for future life sciences in our region."

This article appeared in the October 16, 2006 issue of MiBiz, read by upper management executives in West and Southwest Michigan. Print subscriptions are free to qualified individuals who do business in West and Southwest Michigan. For further information about MiBiz Network, visit www.mibiz.com .