Bioscience facility wants $10 million to locate here

Local and state officials are working on a tax-credit deal, hoping to lure Chlorogen Inc. to the university's research park.

Chlorogen Inc., a St. Louis-based bioscience company, wants to break ground on a new manufacturing and research facility in Cape Girardeau next year, but its chief executive says the firm will need about $10 million in state tax credits and incentives to make it feasible.

"We think we'd be a good match with Cape Girardeau," chief executive David Duncan said Monday. "But three states are trying to lure us away. Still, we're a Missouri company and we'd like to stay here."

Chlorogen uses genetically modified tobacco plants to grow proteins for making pharmaceuticals for treating ovarian and pancreatic cancer, Duncan said. Chlorogen is developing the processes in order to sell the proteins to drug companies. Duncan said it already has a contract with Sigma-Aldrich, a leading life science and high technology company based in St. Louis.

If the state can put together an acceptable tax incentive package -- and local and state officials say they are working on it -- Chlorogen would expand its St. Louis operation onto Southeast Missouri State University's new research and technology park on Interstate 55 north of Cape Girardeau.

But that's a big if, Duncan said.

"Without the $10 million, the state will not be competitive with other states," he said. "It's going to take that to make this happen."

Dennis Roedemeier, executive director of the university's innovation center, said it's still very early in the negotiations.

"We hate to get anybody's hopes up," he said. "Chlorogen is in their very early stages of product development. They've got some way to go with their company to become a major factor in the marketplace. That's going to take some risk capital."

Roedemeier said he hasn't seen any proposals in writing as far to as what the state may offer in incentives.

"But we're happy to have a chance to try to put a deal together," he said. "Hopefully, it will turn out well for everybody."

Last week, Gov. Matt Blunt's office announced that Chlorogen was getting $200,000 in state tax credits to equip two new laboratories at its home campus at the Nidus Center for Scientific Enterprises in Creve Coeur.

Still, if Chlorogen doesn't get assistance from the state for its Cape Girardeau expansion, there's a possibility that the company could expand elsewhere, Duncan said. He declined to name which other states are vying for Chlorogen's business.

Duncan said the $10 million in incentives would be used to build a facility at the research park where the proteins would be extracted. Chlorogen would then lease back the building from the university, Duncan said.

He estimated the business would start off with 20-25 "high-paying jobs." If expansion goes well, he said, he envisions more than 100 employees working at the plant in five years.

The company has $3 million to equip the facility, he said. The facility would include greenhouses and labs and a field to grow tobacco plants. But the company would primarily rely on area farmers to grow the genetically modified tobacco plants.

Genetically modified crops send a shiver down the spine of some farmers. Case in point: Ventria Biosciences recently abandoned its plans for Southeast Missouri, where it had intended to grow genetically-modified rice. Farmers worried that such rice would contaminate their crops and scare off their customers. Anheuser-Busch confirmed their fears when it threatened to boycott Southeast Missouri rice if the genetically-modified crop was planted.

But Duncan said farmers here have nothing to worry about. Chlorogen's processes include adding useful proteins to the chloroplast cells of tobacco plants. Chloroplast is the organelle in a cell that contains chlorophyll and is the site of photosynthesis.

Since the chloroplast does not play a role in reproduction, Duncan said there is no chance that the proteins can accidentally spread to nearby plants through cross-pollination. He said that since tobacco is not a food plant, it couldn't cross-pollinate with food crops anyway.

So it seems the only thing standing in the way of Chlorogen coming here is state assistance.

Mitch Robinson is executive director of Cape Girardeau Area MAGNET, the local industrial recruitment association. Robinson said he and other economic development officials are working to ensure that Chlorogen comes to Cape Girardeau.

The state, including the Missouri Department of Economic Development, Gov. Matt Blunt's office and the university, are working on different combinations of tax credits and other incentives that would assist Chlorogen.

"We trying to find incentives that fit for this situation," he said. "At this point, I'd say our chances are real good. But we're very early in the process. We'll see what happens."

Robinson said that since this would be the first business at the research and technology park, it's important that a viable business goes in.

"And this one is," he said. "It would set the tone for whatever else comes here."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137