Made in Manhattan

While K-State and the USDA loom large, the anchor tenant and a key force to Manhattan achieving its bio-hub ambitions is the San Antonio-based third-party contractor Scorpius BioManufacturing.

• The company, which develops and manufactures antibodies, vaccines and large molecule drugs for customers including the Department of Defense, DARPA and other government agencies, picked Manhattan two years ago for a new manufacturing facility.
• Scorpius plans to make the anthrax antitoxin Anthim there for the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile, in addition to other medical countermeasures and traditional commercial drugs.

Some other projects went to the wayside in the biotech slump of the past few years but some are coming back and new ones are emerging, says Daryn Soldan of the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce.

• He's optimistic the groundwork Manhattan has laid in the meantime will match up with what may be a recovering biotech market.

Between the lines: The Scorpius facility will be the largest U.S.-owned contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) in the U.S. producing large molecules, the company's president and chief operating officer Joe Payne says.

• Scorpius is one of the few CDMOs to voice public support for the Biosecure Act that seeks to restrict U.S. market access for Chinese biotechs that have until now been a pillar in supply chains for U.S. life sciences companies.

The latest: After scrapping plans to build a 500,000-square-foot facility, Scorpius now plans to start with a smaller plant to begin manufacturing at the site by 2027.

• They expect to break ground this fall and to still ultimately hire 500 employees at the Manhattan campus, which will grow to fill the original footprint, Payne says.

• Reality check: The company received notice on June 14 that they will be delisted by the NYSE, but tells Axios it's appealing that decision and is in the process of raising capital or finding a partner to fulfill its Kansas plans.

Yes, but: Manhattan, nestled in the Flint Hills with a population of 54,000, still lacks some critical pieces, Montelone says.

• One is incubators, accelerators and investors that are plentiful in places like Boston, the Bay Area or Austin. Montelone says those will be built if the region secures a large NSF award or a Department of Commerce Tech Hub designation.
• But Payne says, "I don't need it to be Boston or S.F."
• His concern: a workforce.

Editor's note: This story was updated with additional information about Scorpius.