Argenta becomes eighth tenant at BTBC Main Facility
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LAWRENCE — Global animal health leader Argenta has finalized its lease with the Bioscience & Technology Business Center at the University of Kansas (BTBC at KU) and will move into the BTBC Main Facility on Jan. 1.
Argenta announced in August that it would locate a laboratory in Lawrence and create up to 27 scientist jobs over five years. The company has already begun hiring and expects to create four or five new jobs each year until it reaches the 27 total.
Argenta becomes the eighth tenant in the BTBC Main Facility – located on KU’s west campus – and the 14th tenant in the BTBC system, which comprises the Main Facility, the Expansion Facility at 4950 Research Parkway in Lawrence and the KUMC Facility in Kansas City, Kan.
“We’re excited for Argenta to locate in the BTBC Main Facility,” said Matthew McClorey, president of the BTBC at KU system. “The fact that a global animal health leader like Argenta chose to come here speaks volumes about the BTBC as a system for building companies. This is exactly what we envisioned when we created the BTBC – companies coming here to create high-tech, high-paying jobs and to collaborate with KU researchers.”
Argenta officials said Lawrence wasn’t even on the company’s original list of potential sites. Instead, Manhattan, Kan., and Columbia, Mo., were more likely targets because of their university-based veterinary schools. But when regional economic development leaders convinced Argenta officials to tour the BTBC Main Facility – located next to the KU School of Pharmacy – the company began thinking that a connection to KU pharmaceutical researchers would be more beneficial than a close physical presence to a veterinary school.
“Once we toured the facility, we were immediately impressed by the BTBC’s amenities and business support services,” said Doug Cleverly, Argenta president and CEO. “We loved the location next to the KU School of Pharmacy, and we received a level of support from local economic development officials that was, quite honestly, unprecedented. The Lawrence Douglas County Bioscience Authority, the Kansas Bioscience Authority, the Lawrence Chamber, the Kansas City Area Development Council, the University of Kansas and the staff at the BTBC went out of their way to make this an easy process for us.”
Once Argenta moves in, the BTBC Main Facility will be 83 percent full and house 63 employees, spanning eight companies. The BTBC system’s three buildings combined will be 55 percent full and house 84 employees, spanning 14 companies.
Argenta is a privately owned, independent pharmaceutical contract manufacturing organization and pharmaceutical research and development organization. The company operates in the global marketplace of international animal health research, veterinary product development, commercialization and GMP manufacturing. Argenta Global’s head office is based in New Zealand. Find details online.
The BTBC at KU provides state-of-the-art wet lab and office space, access to KU resources and research expertise, and business support services such as capital-raising and consulting services. The BTBC system was launched in August 2010 and comprises three facilities: the Main Facility, located on the KU campus at 2029 Becker Drive; the Expansion Facility, located at 4950 Research Parkway; and the BTBC at KUMC facility, located at 2002 W. 39th Ave. in Kansas City, Kan. The three buildings combine for nearly 70,000 square feet in office and lab space. Below is a summary of the buildings’ occupancy data.
BTBC Main Facility
(63 employees – 83 percent full)
• 360 Energy Engineers – engineering and energy management
• Argenta –animal health
• Assurant – insurance products and services
• BrightEHR – electronic health records
• Garmin – navigation and communication devices
• Gyrasol – drug development
• Propylon –software systems for state legislatures
• Sunlite Science and Technology – specialty LED products
BTBC Expansion Facility
(8 employees – 36 percent full)
• CritiTech – drug delivery
• Mencuro – drug development
KUMC Facility
(13 employees – 53 percent full)
• Aptakon – next-generation antibody substitutes
• Orbis Biosciences – controlled-release delivery technology
• OsteoGeneX – orally administered therapeutics
• EON Labs – plasma reactor technology