Construction will begin soon on a new FDA-approved Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facility housed in Grand Valley State Universitys Cook-DeVos Center for Health Sciences. The facility will support the development of new drugs to treat cancer and other diseases for delivery to the marketplace. The state of Michigan awarded the Van Andel Institute an appropriation of $4.5 million to establish the lab. It is the first GMP facility in the state that is not affiliated with an individual company.
A GMP facility is a dynamic 21st century workshop designed to produce highly specialized treatments suitable for use in human clinical trials. This process will make the new drug more attractive to pharmaceutical companies by reducing the risks typically associated with drug development.
This pioneering public-private collaboration will improve innovation, creativity and sustainable business development in West Michigan. It eliminates the need to contract with laboratories outside of the state and becomes the catalyst for future life science ventures in the region, said Matt Dugener, executive director of the West Michigan Science and Technology Initiative.
Located in what is becoming known as Grand Rapids own life science cluster, the new 5,000-square-foot facility is expected to open by summer 2007.
The new facility will provide a critical component to our regions collective efforts to turn what we discover in the laboratory into treatments that will benefit patients. We will now be able to produce new, high quality pharmaceutical and biological therapies in sufficient quantity and at a reasonable cost for use in clinical trials. Through this partnership, VAI will play an expanded role in bringing new drugs to the marketplace, said David Van Andel, chairman and CEO of the Van Andel Institute.
Grand Valley State University President Mark Murray lauded the collaboration that is making the facility possible. "This GMP facility is absolutely necessary to foster the development of the life sciences in Grand Rapids. We are pleased that Grand Valley and the Van Andel Institute have been able to work collaboratively to secure such an important regional asset. It also illustrates Grand Valley's continued commitment to growing the life science industry in Grand Rapids."
The project was aided by legislators at the state and federal level. Gov. Jennifer Granholm and State Sen. Ken Sikkema were instrumental in securing the $4.5 million in state funding, while U.S. Rep. Vernon Ehlers helped secure $462,555 of federal funding for the project. The Michigan Economic Development Corporation matched the federal award with a grant to Grand Valley State University to develop the facility on its campus.
