Manhattan Campus Site, Manhattan, Kansas

Consortium

The Heartland Bio Agro Consortium (HBAC) is led by Kansas State University and the Midwest Research Institute, with the Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute providing the cohesive leadership that unites the diverse membership. HBAC partners include a number of research universities within the Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska region, and several research universities outside the region chosen to complement strategic research foci. HBAC partners include private research institutes and research hospitals. The greater Kansas City area is a major hub of the veterinary pharmaceutical industry, having companies in the vaccine development, production, and distribution arenas. HBAC partners include a number of these organizations.

Proposed NBAF Site Location

The proposed site for locating the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) is on the Manhattan, Kansas, campus of Kansas State University, immediately adjacent to the Biosecurity Research Institute (BRI). The BRI is a $54 million research/education facility having biosafety level 3 (BSL-3), BSL-3 Enhanced (BSL-3E), and BSL-3 Agriculture (BSL-3Ag) state-of-the-art research space. The site borders on the research laboratories and teaching hospital of the Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine. Adjacent land is available for pasturing animals.

The Kansas legislature has passed a bill authorizing the transfer of all or part of a tract of land located in township ten (10) south, range eight (8) east of the sixth (6th) Principal Meridian in Riley County, Kansas. The total acreage is just less than 45 acres when the land containing the BRI is subtracted.

Complementary Research And Workforce

HBAC is a unique combination of research universities, research institutes and hospitals, subject-matter experts, and leading firms in the bioscience industry – all capable of providing a collaborative, enriched, and valuable environment for the NBAF. A spectrum of activities comprises the lifecycle of bioscience/biomedical innovation, including basic research, discovery, validation, Good Labor Practices (GLP) manufacturing, government regulatory issues, clinical trials, in-hospital diagnostic support, and defined outcomes. HBAC and the Kansas City region have adopted a one-medicine/one-health approach which links the animal health and the human health communities in a joint search for answers to intriguing health and bioscience questions. This approach is particularly relevant to biodefense and emerging infectious disease research for several important reasons. First, many of the emerging diseases are zoonotic in nature, and these diseases pose real threats not only in the food animal and wildlife arenas, but on the human health side as well. Second, solutions to the problems in both animal health and human health require a fundamental understanding of the same basic principles of disease physiology and require the same tools and technology to bring the solutions from concepts to reality.

HBAC is in a region rich in animal infectious disease research, pharmaceutical production, and workforce availability. The Kansas City bioscience industry is an internationally-recognized leader in the animal health arena. Its strength is in its numbers: the region is home to 165 life science companies, with 37 focused on protecting and securing animal health. Within the $14.5 billion animal health industry, more than 40 percent of the U.S. sales and 26 percent of worldwide sales are those of companies having a presence in the Kansas City area. There is a major focus on research and development, GLP/Good Manufacturing Practices(GMP) manufacturing, and translation into the marketplace. More than 5,000 animal health workers provide a uniquely skilled workforce.

Available Site Infrastructure

Utilities available to the site include water, electricity, sewer, telecommunications, and natural gas. The site is within 1,000 feet of a fire station and within 1 mile of a hospital having emergency room service. Adjacent to the site is the Kansas State University Research Park, allowing co-location of industrial research facilities as the NBAF matures. The Biosecurity Research Institute and the College of Veterinary Medicine ensure a critical neighboring mass of infectious disease research.