Recently, President and CEO of the Kansas BioScience Authority (KBA), Tom Thornton, was interviewed by Animal Pharm Magazine about the progress of the NBAF project, how KBA participated in the process, and how the NBAF will impact the security of animal health and the nation’s food supply.
Here are the highlights:
“Mr. Thornton says that the roots of the new NBAF project can be traced back to the 9/11 terrorist attacks upon the US. The nation had to quickly reappraise its preparedness against threats from both human and natural sources and, as a result, its potential exposure to animal disease became more obvious. The US’ animal disease work has been carried out at the secure premises on Plum Island off New York State since the 1950s. However, this site is now deemed outdated and inadequate in terms of its facilities and the scope of its programs, to support and address the 21st century threat from animal disease. At the same time, the developing “One Health” policy in the US acknowledges that that 70% of animal diseases can also affect human health, and so the prevention and control of animal disease can offset costly outbreaks …
“… Twenty-nine US sites expressed interest in providing a home for the NBAF. A selection process whittled this list down to eighteen candidates, then a shortlist of five, with Manhattan, Kansas emerging as the best location on the merits in early 2009. The Kansas region believed it was an obvious choice for the project, with its strength in animal health research and commerce …
“More importantly, [the KBA] could provide two things that fundamentally accelerated the bid…
“One was the offer to allow the DHS and its partners the use of its bioscience research facilities during the interim period while the new laboratory was constructed and commissioned. This includes the most modern BSL3 level agricultural biosecurity institute in the US. “Therefore, researchers for the new federal facility can already be embedded in the region and ‘plugged in’ to the local animal health network, allowing the NBAF, when it opens in 2015 or so, to hit the ground running” … The new facility will be directly adjacent to BSL3 lab, close to a vet school, next to a science park, on a campus with strong agricultural programs and located within the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor (KCAHC).
“Second is its links to existing businesses in the Corridor, estimated to contain around one-third of the global animal health industry. “For example, inside the NBAF there will be vaccine trial facilities,” notes Mr. Thornton. “Meanwhile, the commercial entities that will commercialize the vaccines that emerge from this national R&D investment are close by – the whole chain is already in place. The DHS is very excited about the close connection to the animal health corridor…Kansas offered a solution, not just a site.”
“…The DHS intends to start building the NBAF in mid 2010, with completion scheduled for 2015. Once it has been certified and approved by the US Department of Agriculture, DHS, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other relevant agencies, it should be fully operational by 2017-18.
“Since landing the NBAF contract, the KBA has successfully pursued and helped to attract two other large scale federal animal health R&D projects to Kansas,
“… In November last year, the US Department of Agriculture made the decision to relocate the Arthropod-Borne Animal Disease Research Laboratory to Manhattan, Kansas. This will focus on vector-borne diseases. Then, in February, Kansas State University was awarded $12 million for the Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases. Both will be multi-agency approaches, including human as well as animal health”
You can read the whole article here.
