Wayne County pledges $1.5M for new stem cell lab in Plymouth

Wayne County is investing $1.5 million to create a stem cell wet lab in Plymouth that will house a number of up-and-coming small businesses specializing in research and commercialization of new drugs and other biotech advances.

The Michigan Center for Regenerative Medicine will feature a combination of wet lab, offices, and manufacturing space totaling 21,000 square feet in a soon-to-be renovated building. The center will be operated by the directors of the Michigan Research Institute in Ann Arbor and will count Innovative Bio Therapies as its anchor tenant. Other smaller firms are expected to sign on by the time it opens this fall.

"This will be a magnet facility," says David Humes, president of Innovative Biotherapies.

About three quarters of the space is still available for lease. Humes and Jim Richter, president of the Michigan Research Institute, expect another 5-10 companies to sign leases within the next year or two, filling the building.

The project will begin construction in July and be up and running in time for the 2010 World Stem Cell Summit this fall.

"We think that will send a message to other companies to come and set up shop here," says Robert Ficano, executive of Wayne County and a champion of the project.

Source: David Humes, president of Innovative Bio Therapies; Jim Richter, president of Michigan Research Institute; and Robert Ficano, executive of Wayne County
Writer: Jon Zemke

Wayne County pledges $1.5M for new stem cell lab in Plymouth

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