Kansas is ranked number nine in the nation for biotechnology strength, according to a Kansas Bioscience Authority statement released Friday.

Kansas received its ranking in the May edition of the Business Facilities magazine and appears to have gained some momentum in the category because of Kansas' selection to house the $650 million Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility.

The Kansas Department of Homeland Security selected Manhattan as the location to build the 500,000-square-foot facility to research and evaluate biological threats, including diseases that can be transmitted from animal to human, as well as diseases from foreign animals.

“We are the 32nd largest economy in the nation but have been ranked number nine for biotech strength,” Kansas Bioscience Authority president Tom Thornton said. “This is happening because we are leveraging Kansas’ unique expertise and infrastructure to address key national challenges in health care, energy and biodefense.”

Thornton told Kansas Liberty he would expect Kansas to move up in the rankings once NBAF was built.

Kansas was selected to house NBAF out of a pool of finalists, including a Texas Biological and Agro-Defense Consortium that later challenged the decision, alleging that Kansas was selected because of political reasons.

Former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Rep. Jerry Moran and Sens. Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback quickly fired back at the allegations, saying that Kansas was selected fairly and not because of any political connections.

According to a BioRegion News report, a United States Court of Federal Claims judge dismissed the lawsuit last Friday, saying it was too soon for the issue to be considered, as Congress had not yet funded NBAF.

“Without congressional appropriation for construction funding, the NBAF will not be constructed in Manhattan, Kan., or anywhere else for that matter,” Judge Mary Ellen Coster Williams said.

The judge also did not forbid the Texas consortium from refiling the lawsuit.

Thornton is not focusing his energy on worrying about whether Texas would file another lawsuit, and is instead looking toward getting the funding secured for NBAF, which he said he was confident would happen.

“Roberts and Brownback are strong supporters of NBAF and they are working extremely hard on this,” Thornton told Kansas Liberty. "We are focused on getting the lab built and getting the research started."

Brownback announced last week that a Homeland Security bill that includes appropriations for NBAF passed the Senate.

The Senate bill allocates $36.3 million for NBAF. The House has also approved a Homeland Security appropriations bill, though it does not provide funding for NBAF.

The two bills will now be considered in a conference committee.

“We fought hard for this funding, and I’m glad my colleagues in the Senate realized the significant role this facility will play in researching emerging diseases that could endanger our food supply,” Brownback said. “I look forward to working with my colleagues in the House that are on the conference committee in helping them recognize the importance of this facility, as well.”

Thornton said that if NBAF had been operating prior to the H1N1 virus being transferred to humans, the facility could have worked to create a Swine Flu vaccine for humans.

"If Texas wants to slow the impact of NBAF down and slow that research down they will have a hard time arguing that point because this is critical research," he said. "These diseases are literally coming our way.”

Previously on Kansas Liberty:

• Texas threatens to sue Homeland Security for NBAF selection: http://www.kansasliberty.com/liberty-update-archive/2009/27apr/nbaf-lawsuit/?searchterm=nbaf

Resources:

• BioRegion News report: http://www.genomeweb.com/bioregionnews/judge-dismisses-texas-consortiums-nbaf-lawsuit-siding-dhs-ripeness-judicial-revi

• Kansas Bioscience Authority: http://www.kansasbioauthority.org/
• Bioscience Authority release: http://www.kansasbioauthority.org/news/Detail.aspx?id=74
• Business Facilities: http://www.businessfacilities.com/
• Brownback press release http://brownback.senate.gov/public/press/record.cfm?id=315698

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