Boehringer Ingelheim signs Kit Bond Science lease

By Jesse West

February 4, 2010 No Comments

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica Inc., a pharmaceutical company based in St. Joseph, has signed a lease with Missouri Western State University to be the fifth tenant of the Christopher S. “Kit” Bond Science and Technology Incubator.

“We’re bringing the synergy of having the [means] to…create a sort of can do attitude about animal health and what it takes to move ideas to products across the globe,” said Ed Robb, vice president of research and development.

Founded in 1885, BIVI is a subsidiary of Boehringer Ingelheim Corporation, one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies. With interests in both human pharmaceuticals and animal health products, the goals of BIVI and those of the incubator went hand-in-hand, so much that the company actually served on the board of the Institute for Industrial and Applied Life Sciences, the joint public/private organization that manages the incubator.

When the incubator was being built, President and CEO Dr. Gary Clapp spoke with Dr. George Heidgerken, president and CEO of BIVI, about occupying the incubator in the near future. According to Clapp, IIALS and Missouri Western were looking at spending nearly a million dollars to finish the second floor; simultaneously, BIVI had doubled in size and was in need of a new facility to accommodate their growth.

Clapp believes that this agreement serves IIALS’ goals of advocating animal health and life sciences, working on economic development and helping Western in their mission of applied learning.

“Boehringer Ingelheim will benefit from being an integral part of the incubator and our community and Missouri Western will benefit from the student and faculty interaction,” Clapp said. “Overall, the community will benefit significantly from the continued job growth and the ability to keep these jobs right here in St. Joseph.”

Heidgerken is quick to concur, noting that it is his passion to bring higher quality science education to the community and he feels this agreement will achieve that.

“We get to do day-to-day business, but we also get to meet and work with students and the faculty,” Heidgerken said. “We have that opportunity to share ideas.”

With plans to move into the incubator by April, BIVI will occupy the second floor of the incubator for the next four years with an option to extend the lease for another year. With the signing of the lease, BIVI will bring 40 new jobs to the incubator and will spend approximately $750,000 on finishing the second floor. Once BIVI leaves the incubator, however, those improvements won’t be going with them.

“When they leave at the end of four years, those improvements will become property of the university and those then become accessible to the enjoyment of new clients,” Clapp said.

From the perspective of Western President Robert Vartabedian, the joint agreement between Western, IIALS and BIVI is a win-win situation for all involved.

“They are huge players in the Animal Life Sciences Industry worldwide and to have an affiliation with them is a major development for the incubator,” Vartabedian said. “This will make for a stronger bond between us.”