Budget writers agree to fund biosciences building

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- State budget writers have approved seed money for a new building that would house a biosciences pharmaceutical firm at Northwest Missouri State University.

Budget negotiators agreed Monday to appropriate $1.1 million for the project next fiscal year -- the first of what would be 15 similar annual subsidies to help pay off the construction debt.

Sacramento, Calif.-based Ventria Biosciences -- which uses genetically modified crops to grow medications -- plans to relocate to Missouri as the anchor for the proposed $30 million Center of Excellence for plant-made pharmaceuticals at the Maryville campus. The construction and equipment cost is to be split equally among the state, federal government and local sources.

Sen. David Klindt, R-Bethany, said four additional companies are expected to locate at the center within the next five years. In that time, the center is expected to generate an annual economic impact of more than $29 million for the region while providing at least 226 high-paying jobs, he said.

The project also has drawn support from Gov. Matt Blunt's administration.

"This should be thought of as a job-creation, economic development tool," Blunt's Office of Administration Commissioner, Michael Keathley, told members of the House and Senate budget conference committee.

The final version of the budget must be passed by the House and Senate by Friday.

Last week, Ventria said it was dropping plans to grow genetically modified rice in Missouri this year. The company had wanted to plant about 200 acres of rice in Southeast Missouri to produce human proteins that could be used in drugs. But Anheuser-Busch threatened to boycott the state's rice crop over concerns the modified rice could contaminate edible rice grown nearby.

Ventria agreed to find a site at least 120 miles from commercial growing areas, and Anheuser-Busch dropped its boycott threat. But Deeter said it was too late to get a permit from federal regulators in time to plant the rice in another location.