Making a Difference with Biotechnology:
Iowa Success Stories

By Michelle Lurch-Shaw

"Biotechnology firms definitely have made an impact on our area. They provided the first hi-tech employment at a time when the industrial manufacturing companies we've traditionally relied on for jobs, were conducting layoffs and downsizing," said Bob Wells, assistant to the president, college/industrial relations at Indian Hills Community College. "Companies at the Eddyville complex have provided employment for about 300 graduates of our hi-tech training programs."

Eddyville is just one example of the impact the growing cluster of biotech companies are making statewide. The industry has invested millions in facilities and equipment, created jobs, and breathed new life into the economy. Iowa biotech companies are contributing to the development of healthier foods, life-saving medicines, a cleaner environment and improved industrial products.

Iowa's industry includes some of the most recognized names in ag-biotech, such as Cargill and its Eddyville operation, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc. who together with DuPont, invest $600 million each year in agricultural improvement and research technologies; Garst Seed Company and its new WHISKERS™ technology, a procedure that allows scientists to insert genes into plants to allow them to develop valuable traits beyond their own genetic capabilities; and Monsanto Company with its $19.5 million state-of-the-art DNA analysis center in Ankeny.

The state's new success stories include the likes of Ecolotree, the first company to use poplar trees to clean up and prevent environmental pollution. The company was founded in 1990 by Louis Licht, an engineer. Licht was finishing his doctoral work at The University of Iowa at the time.

"We've planted trees coast to coast, from Washington to Pennsylvania," Licht said. "We take an old factory, a closed landfill, a devastated ecosystem and make it a diverse vibrant forest. You get the benefit of cleaning up pollutants, providing wild life habitat, and it's a lot cheaper than chemical intervention."

Licht said his idea originally met with a great deal of skepticism, but the skeptics are now following his lead. "I look at companies who are now imitating what we are doing and know that we have changed what's being done," he said. "I feel proud, because the bottom line is, the ecosystem is being helped."

Another emerging company is Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT). The Coralville firm sells synthetic DNA to researchers around the world. The market for the company's products have "exploded" because of interest in the human genome and corn genome, said Roman Terrill, assistant general counsel at IDT. In 1995 sales were less than $500,000. This year, they will be more than $12 million.

"The completion of the human genome project is equivalent to the Gold Rush," Terrill explained. "Companies are investing billions of dollars in this area and IDT makes the picks and shovels."

EnzyMed, a division of Albany Molecular Research, Inc, is also located in the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City corridor. The company specializes in the synthesis, optimization and identification of new pharmaceutical and agrochemical compounds using its proprietary combinatorial biocatalysis technology.

This technology allows it to create libraries of diverse variations of compounds provided by its corporate and academic customers. Companies use these libraries to better understand the structure and activity of their compounds.

Founded in 1994, the company currently employs 25 people and is expected to double in size over a three-year period. EnzyMed has also planned a $3.5 million expansion of its existing facility at The University of Iowa Oakdale Research Park.

Iowa's three public universities are also important contributors to the industry's success. Their innovative research centers and technology transfer initiatives nurture the development of start-up companies. With more than 21,000 students enrolled in biotechnology-related disciplines these universities are also the repositories of the highly-skilled workers that drive the industry.

"The economic and scientific impact of the work being done at Iowa universities, colleges and companies will help to make the state a world leader in the biotech industry, and will make biotech a pillar of Iowa's economy," said Doug Getter, executive director of the Iowa Biotechnology Association (IBA).

According to the IBA, Iowa is home to more than 180 companies involved in some aspect of the life science industry. Based on published data, the industry employed 7,400 Iowans with a payroll of more than $275 million in 1995. In a 1998 report by Ernst & Young, Iowa ranked 15th in the nation in biotechnology company concentration.

Here are some more examples of Iowa biotechnology success stories:

Iowa Bioprocessing Center: includes Cargill, Heartland Lysine, Ajinomoto and Wacker Biochem. The center is one of the world's largest corn processing plants representing almost $1 billion in new investments. Heartland Lysine employs 75 people and recently invested $35 million in a facility expansion. The company makes lysine. Ajinomoto employs 55 people and makes monosodium glutamate. Wacker Biochem makes cyclodextrins, a stabilizer for pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. The company employs 18 people and has a $26 million facility. In a separate joint venture, Swiss vitamin giant Hoffman-LaRoche has become the exclusive consumer for all the natural vitamin E produced at the company's state-of-the-art Eddyville plant, which opened in 1998.

Trans Ova: This privately held company is one of the leading bovine reproductive technology centers in the world. Trans Ova Genetics offers embryo transfer techniques including in vivo and in vitro embryo production. Currently, equity capital is being raised for a pilot dairy facility in Sioux Center where a human blood protein would be harvested from the milk of genetically altered dairy cows. Trans Ova Genetics is working with Genzyme Transgenics of Massachusetts on a herd of dairy cows capable of producing the protein Serum albumin. The first phase involves construction of a $14 million collection facility and development of the dairy herd. The company currently employees 30 full-time and 7 part-time workers.

ExSeed Genetics, L.L.C.: The company customizes grain from the inside helping boost grain's nutritional content, improve processing attributes, and creating environmentally friendly grains. ExSeed has a $4 million research & development center and employs 17 people at its Ames location.

Kemin Industries: recently constructed a new research and development facility at its 23-acre corporate campus. Part of a three-step, $17.2 million expansion, the facility will house Kemin's growing R&D staff. It will coordinate the research efforts at Kemin facilities located in Belgium, Singapore, Thailand, India, and Texas. Kemin's FloraGLOÒ Lutein can now be found in CentrumÒ and Centrum Silver multivitamins, manufactured by American Home Products. FloraGLO is the first new ingredient to be added to Centrum since beta-carotene in 1988. Kemin Industries employs 240 at its Des Moines location.