KU pledges support for biosciences research site

Leaders working to establish a high-tech incubator for promising bioscience startups and other companies in Lawrence insist that the effort will take money, solid planning and -- perhaps more than anything else -- cooperation from the University of Kansas.

And KU officials say they're on board.

"We want to take advantage of those opportunities," said Carey Novak, director of business relations and development for the KU Center for Research Inc. "We want to see if we can get something in place."

Officials from the Lawrence-Douglas County Biosciences Authority say they expect to have a proposed model ready within three months for accomplishing what has been in the discussion stage for more than three years: opening a "wet lab" incubator -- a description for high-tech scientific spaces capable of accommodating specialized research.

The incubator would be designed to accomplish several objectives:

Take products created through basic research at KU and steer them toward the commercial market.

Accommodate other startup companies in Lawrence that may be looking for more space, specialized equipment or other support to speed efforts toward commercialization.

Welcome companies or research efforts from elsewhere that want to collaborate with KU scientists and researchers, with the goal of creating products or services that need work on the way to market.

Implicit in all scenarios is that Lawrence would be able to nurture, retain and gain jobs that promise high wages, attract significant investments and fuel potential for rapid growth.

The incubator would be within a single physical location and include support from many directions, such as high-tech equipment, office support and business plan development.

"It could accommodate multipurpose uses," said LaVerne Epp, chairman of the Lawrence-Douglas County Biosciences Authority.

"It could accommodate 'bridge' companies. It could accommodate startup companies as well as a company that's already in existence that we may recruit through KU research.

"This is going to be a very evolutionary type of center."

But any incubator would be about more than a building and a collection of lab tables, said Matt McClorey, chief executive of the Lawrence Regional Technology Center and member of the local authority's board of directors. Any incubator also needs to consider providing tenants with lease subsidies, business development services or even equipment loans.

Epp said that considering all such opportunities would be key to the center's success.

"It's not just a real-estate deal," he said.