State has biomedical potential, but funds are key, scientist says

Jul. 17--If Dr. Jordan Tang's Alzheimer's drug trials prove successful, many will owe their well-being to his 50 years of research. He and his team are already looking at the possibilities for the next generation of Alzheimer's drugs. But Tang would like to see more Oklahomans' medical research come to fruition. He thinks Oklahoma's economic future depends on it.

"A lot of discovery may have been able to go somewhere and help people, but it did not survive the process," Tang said. The process he refers to is finding venture and seed capital to fund research, development and translation of discoveries to practical uses, such as drugs and treatments.

"If you don't sound interesting to the venture (capital) people, they don't put in money," he said. "If you can't find seed money, you can't even go look for venture. I think we have some of these components in place, but we don't have it sufficient to support all the potential."

The problem is not exclusive to Oklahoma, said Steve Paris, public information officer for the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST). "Finding venture capital at that level, to get the people who have the money convinced that they should invest in health research projects, is a challenge anywhere in the country."

This year's legislative session brought new money to the Oklahoma seed capital revolving fund. OCAST added $2.25 million to the fund to provide technology companies incentive for creating high-skill, high-wage jobs in Oklahoma.

The fund was created nearly 20 years ago, but it wasn't until last year that the state Legislature appropriated $5 million for its use.

OCAST also provides administrative staffing for the $150 million Economic Development Generating Excellence trust fund (EDGE fund), created in 2006 to increase economic development in the state through technology-based industry.

The EDGE fund produced $7 million last year, which will eventually be made available for the purposes determined by its executors.

"We do know that it's going to be used for research and development in Oklahoma," Paris said.

I2E (Innovation to Enterprise), a strategic partner of OCAST, assists technology and biotechnology entrepreneurs with building businesses by loaning seed money and offering advice.

"I2E makes sure these individuals know how to do a business plan, know how to develop a marketing plan -- those kinds of things, all the processes that are required to achieve a level of success," Paris said.

But, these resources are not enough.

"Obviously we've got people who are always contacting investors in Texas and Kansas and various parts of the country to come and invest in Oklahoma, and that meets with some success but not a great amount of success because most of them want to invest where they live," Paris said. "We're trying to grow the investment community in Oklahoma. We have seen growth there, but it doesn't seem to always be enough money. That's kind of the natural state of the world. You never have enough to do all the things that you want, but you make steady progress in that direction."

Infrastructure to support the process -- such as in California's Silicon Valley and Boston, and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard -- is important for Oklahoma, Tang said.

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