EAST LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan State University technology spinoff company is the first tenant in MSU’s new Bioeconomy Institute, located in a former Pfizer Inc. laboratory in Holland, Mich.
Biochemistry professor Rawle Hollingsworth has operated his company, AFID Therapeutics Inc., in laboratory space at MBI International in Lansing since 2004, developing technology licensed from MSU. It now will tap western Michigan talent and resources to expand development work.
Hollingsworth’s research on complex carbohydrates derived from biomass and sugars forms the basis for developing high-value chemical compounds. The compounds can be used to create drugs for infectious diseases and autoimmune, cardiovascular and neurological disorders, as well as specialty chemicals for other purposes.
AFID is developing material for more than 100 companies around the world to use for testing and further development.
“At MBI, we are working in a laboratory where we can produce three or four liters (about one gallon) of biochemical product,” Hollingsworth said. “At the Bioecononmy Institute in Holland, we have access to a pilot plant where we can process 4,000-liter batches.”
Scale-up of AFID Therapeutics’ processes began in late May under the leadership of William Freckman, MSU’s Holland site director of operations.
The Holland facility was donated to MSU in 2008 by Pfizer Inc.; its design for the type of research-and-development and scale-up processes Hollingsworth’s company needs was key to the decision to operate there, he said. “But even more important, West Michigan has the experienced work force in pharmaceuticals to draw on and the infrastructure to support AFID beyond this step,” Hollingsworth added.
Ultimately, AFID Therapeutics hopes to employ 10 engineers and chemists there in addition to a similar number at its Lansing laboratory.
“The novelty and biobased nature of AFID Therapeutics’ specialty chemical technologies make the company a good fit with the university’s strategic vision for the site,” according to Paul Hunt, MSU senior associate vice president for research and graduate studies.
Encouraging such university research spinoff companies and nurturing new nonuniversity businesses are MSU goals shared by Lakeshore Advantage, a regional economic development group in the Holland-Zeeland area. Lakeshore Advantage recently hired Randy Olinger to lead business development for the BioEnterprise Center, the entity within the Bioeconomy Institute that connects entrepreneurs to planning assistance and business acumen.
“Having an experienced entrepreneur like Rawle as our first tenant is going to give our operation a terrific boost,” Olinger said. “He is engaged in making ‘green’ chemicals that leverage our area’s agricultural advantages, he will soon be hiring the specialized pharmaceutical talent that west Michigan has an abundance of and he successfully bridges the space between business and the university in remarkably productive ways.”
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