INSTITUTE, CHINESE FIRMS WANT LAB SPACE

BYLINE: David Madrid, The Arizona Republic

Sun Health Research Institute of Sun City is in need of some biotech lab space, and the non-profit organization hopes to build that space in Surprise.

Bill Camp, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Sun Health, said the organization would like to have a place in Surprise's proposed Biotech Village.

Some memorandums of understanding have already been reached with a couple of Chinese entities that own proprietary drugs, including the Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Camp said. The institute would like to be able to begin the research with the Chinese in Surprise sometime around the end of 2007 or the beginning to 2008.

Sun Health hasn't reached an agreement with Surprise yet, though they have been meeting.

"We certainly would like it to happen reasonably soon," Camp said of the partnership with Surprise.

The City Council recently moved the city closer to investing in biotechnology. Pursuing the biotech industry is a major plank of the city's economic development strategy.

In October, the council unanimously accepted a biotech progress report and agreed to send the biotech issue to the second phase of the planning process, which is to create a business and marketing plan for a biotech incubator.

The Sun Health Research Institute is internationally known for its research on such aging diseases as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

One of the Chinese entities and Sun Health plan to research drugs that have been effectively used by the Chinese but haven't yet had the scrutiny required for use in the U.S.

"I think there is a lot of interest in that (Eastern medicine)," Camp said. "That's one of the reasons we thought, 'Well, this might make sense to put over in Surprise.' We probably could have brought that (research) to our campus in Sun City, but we thought, 'There is a lot of interest in this. This might help spur the development of the Biotech Village in Surprise.' "

Sun Health Research Institute has been in Sun City for 20 years. It has the world's leading brain bank and a body bank, which the institute uses to collect human tissue, Camp said.

"If they (Surprise leaders) want to attract biotech companies, then having someone like Sun Health Research Institute in the neighborhood, which already has a long, successful history of research, that may very well be something that attracts other biotech companies," Camp said.

For example, some companies may want to use some of the research institute's tissue for their research. Sun Health makes it available to researchers around the country.

Because of the institute's brain and body banks, there is no need for animal testing, Camp said.

"Certainly, it is not our intent to do any animal testing," he said. "The clinical trial testing is basically with human participants."

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Tour the institute

In an effort to build relationships with residents, Sun Health Research Institute offers tours of its facilities the first Tuesday of each month. Reservations must be made and can be set up by calling (623) 876-5466. Information: www.shri.org/