Manhattan's biodefense project rises on the plains
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Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios
MANHATTAN, Kan. — Two hours west of Kansas City, a multibillion-dollar research hub is emerging on the prairie as a new first line of defense against animal diseases that can decimate livestock, rattle financial markets and potentially spill over into humans.
Why it matters: The growing avian flu outbreak in the U.S., highly contagious swine fever circulating in Europe and Asia and other pathogens have put a premium on the ability to amp up production of vaccines and other medical countermeasures — and pulling more of that work back to the U.S. from overseas.
Catch up quick: A public-private partnership is trying to position the city of Manhattan as a hub for biosecurity, biodefense and biomanufacturing technologies.
Zoom in: The work is rooted in two adjacent facilities on the northern edge of Kansas State University: the university's Biosecurity Research Institute (BRI) and the USDA's National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF).
- NBAF is a $1.25 billion facility that opened last year and is a successor to the Plum Island Animal Disease Facility on Long Island, which will be decommissioned, as the premier animal disease research lab in the U.S.
- Beyond its location in agriculture's heartland, it's the only facility that can work with livestock and the most deadly pathogens. NBAF will focus on seven foreign animal diseases, including Nipah virus, Foot and Mouth disease and African swine fever.
BRI, which opened in 2008, houses more than a dozen laboratories that operate at the second-highest biosafety level.
- Scientists there study nearly three dozen different plant and animal diseases, including wheat blast, swine influenza and Rift Valley fever, as well as food safety.
- It was involved in testing the first mRNA vaccine, which was developed for Zika virus, and has been studying the avian influenza virus fueling the current outbreak in cattle across the U.S.
"We will be the epicenter of animal health research" in five years, says Jürgen Richt, the director of K-State's Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases.
Yet to be fully realized is a third pillar of the effort: the manufacturing infrastructure needed to produce vaccines and treatments on a quick turnaround when there's an outbreak, biological attack or other crisis.
- "The more robust, supported, diversified that [manufacturing] can be, the better," says Raj Panjabi, a former Biden administration official who oversaw the U.S. global response to COVID.
- And it all needs to be done without derailing the production of vaccines and treatments for more common afflictions, he adds.
BRI — and eventually NBAF — has a production lab to develop scientific discoveries into vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics.
- K-State is also looking to stand up a lab for developing customized vaccines for smaller manufacturers that focus on more localized outbreaks.
- "I'm building a whole bio-manufacturing empire," says Beth Montelone, senior associate vice president for research at K-State who is leading the region's bioeconomy development under a National Science Foundation grant.
- "That's my end game."
While K-State and the USDA loom large, the anchor tenant and a key force in Manhattan's 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, 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.
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.
The big picture: 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.
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 that can support manufacturing.
What to watch: The Manhattan Area Technical College is developing an associate degree program in biocontainment facilities support. K-State is creating a certificate in biomanufacturing for undergraduates and is considering short courses for people in the industry to upskill.
Disclosure: Kansas State University covered the cost of travel and accommodation in Manhattan for Alison, who spoke at a university training program.
