Big buildup for biotech center
Riley says institute 'marks a sea change' for region, heralds new economy

Friday, January 20, 2006

By BRIAN LAWSON
Times Business Writer brianl@htimes.com

About the building During Thursday’s groundbreaking ceremony, Jim Hudson described what the Hudson-Alpha building will look and feel like: “A building where eight to 10 biotech companies work under the same roof with eight to 10 institute investigators.” “A place where 900 people can concentrate their efforts on our vision.” “A building cleverly designed to encourage interaction.” “A building where every CEO has a view of every investigator’s office and vise versa.” “A food court and a coffee shop to provide places to gather.” “A grand atrium with aerial walkways joining the institute labs with the commercial labs.” “All of these research labs have been designed to be highly flexible and easily reconfigured.” “All of this in a class A building… providing the kind of exceptional environment needed to recruit the best and brightest scientists.”

It is not every day that several hundred people turn out to watch a small pile of dirt being shoveled outdoors in January, but with promises of a new economy, some 900 high-paying jobs and world-class research toward curing disease, the crowd makes sense.

The people were on hand Thursday for the groundbreaking of the Hudson-Alpha Institute for Biotechnology, the heart of an effort led by Huntsville biotech pioneer Jim Hudson to combine research and product development.

The Hudson-Alpha Institute was announced in August. Support for the project includes $80 million in private commitments and a $50 million cash pledge from the state.

Gov. Bob Riley was among the featured speakers hailing the "new economy" promised by the first earth-turning on the project, a 260,000-square-foot building in Cummings Research Park. The building eventually will house 900 employees, eight to 10 biotechnology companies and a like number of institute investigators.

Riley called the groundbreaking a historic day for Huntsville, Madison County, the region and the state.

"This marks a sea change," Riley said. "This is a base to grow on for the next generation. Huntsville has always been blessed with vision, and this effort makes the statement that not only can we compete with the rest of the world in scientific research, we will compete."

Hudson said along with the research and business spurred by the center, he was working with Columbia High School to develop a biotech program that eventually will be available on the Internet for students across Alabama. He hopes to inspire students to consider the biotech field, to show that it provides high-paying, interesting scientific opportunities.

Construction on the nonprofit institute will formally begin this week, and Hudson said he expects work to be completed by mid-2007. The institute will combine its nonprofit research team's efforts with outside companies housed in the same campus environment.

Hudson told the enthusiastic crowd that he was "bowled over" by the turnout Thursday. In describing the vision for institute, Hudson recalled his first meeting with Jerry Cooper and his architects at the CooperCarry firm who are designing the building.

"(It is) ...dedicated to scientific discovery," Hudson told the crowd at the site off Moquin Drive. "But even more dedicated to seeing that those discoveries were translated into real products and treatments for patients."

Hudson said he and his board of directors believe the institute's discoveries and moving them from research to a patient's bedside could best be accomplished by the private sector.

The public sector also played a huge role in the project, the speakers said Thursday. Riley singled out U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Huntsville, for his work in the months before the August announcement. The governor said there were times when he thought the project "absolutely would not happen," but Cramer was the "stabilizing influence" that kept the deal together.

State lawmakers including Sens. Roger Bedford, D-Russellville, and Tom Butler, D-Madison, were also singled out for their tenacity in supporting the project, as was Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery.

The project was controversial in other parts of the state, given the University of Alabama at Birmingham's significant medical research facilities, but Riley said the efforts are complementary. He said new research facilities in Mobile and Auburn, along with the Hudson-Alpha Institute, reflect a strategy for biotech that includes using state resources in the same way they've been used for manufacturing initiatives.

"All of this combined will help Alabama develop a new type of economy," he said.

The expectation is that Huntsville will become a center for biotech companies that want to take advantage of the high-powered research work at the institute. Hudson, Riley and Cramer all spoke confidently about the community's ability to attract business and develop products.

Dr. Danny Lewis, president and chief executive of Huntsville's Expression Genetics, said his company is working with UAB researchers now on a cancer product. Lewis said there are significant opportunities for collaboration in Huntsville and with other biotech centers such as UAB's.

Hudson said he hopes to name an institute director, who will lead and direct the research efforts, within six months.