| $1B
biotech firm plans Grass Lake HQ, Oakland R&D campus
Posted by Sven Gustafson |
Oakland Business Review October 25, 2007 02:49AM
Categories: Breaking News, Top Stories
Kositech's expansion factored in proximity to Michigan's
life science talent pool. A $1 billion Chinese biotech firm
plans to announce a 270,000 square-foot research campus
in Oakland County, just after signing a deal to open a North
American headquarters in Grass Lake.
Singapore-based Kositech Scientific AG has secured an unnamed,
existing location in Oakland County, where it plans to spend
as much as $300 million to open a DNA research facility
that will employ up to 600 workers, including 400 new hires.
Kositech, a medical device and pharmaceutical products company
with more than $1 billion in annual revenue, is starting
an aggressive expansion into North America.
One factor driving the location decision, officials said,
is the proximity to former Pfizer workers who will lose
their jobs with the pharmaceutical giant leaves closes its
Ann Arbor campus in 2008.
The $10 million Kositech headquarters in Grass Lake - just
west of Chelsea in Jackson County - will create 100 new
jobs, officials estimated. The building is a vacant nursing
home with frontage on Interstate 94.
Company officials said they chose Michigan because of its
existing life science talent pool and the presence of the
University of Michigan. It chose Grass Lake for its new
North American headquarters because of its proximity to
Detroit and Chicago.
"We feel there's a positive business environment in
Michigan right now for high tech, especially with biotech,"
said Kevin Coonce, Kositech's director of North American
operations. "With the downsizing of Pfizer in Ann Arbor,
(it) has opened a large scientific pool in the state that
is looking for career changes."
However, company officials caution that they're not looking
at the former Pfizer site: "The soon-to-be vacant campus,
formerly used by Pfizer in Ann Arbor, although it is a well-equipped
facility in good condition and located in a great community,
it (sic) is not currently being considered by Kositech Scientific
AG," CFO Steven Winston wrote in an e-mail.
The company won't disclose the specific location of the
new campus, and it's backing off an earlier report that
it would locate the facility in Troy.
There is no indication the company has made requests for
state tax incentives with the Michigan Economic Development
Corp. Oakland County officials have had only minimal contact
with Kositech since learning of the company's plans, said
Maureen Krauss, deputy economic development director.
The privately held research and manufacturing firm, which
was launched by a German scientist in 1972 from a two-room
office and laboratory, develops pharmaceuticals such as
pain inhibitors and beta blockers. It also develops cardiac
and ultrasound medical equipment for marketing and sale
under other brand names.
Kositech boasts 6,000 employees among its Singapore headquarters,
an R&D facility in Bangkok, Thailand, manufacturing
operations in Ghana and China and other facilities.
Kositech has moved quickly in North America; it opened
its first executive and sales offices in the region in Toronto
in early 2006.
Coonce acknowledged he made earlier reference to Troy "in
a casual conversation" with a reporter but was "referring
to Troy as a general geographic area." The new facility,
he said, "will be located in Oakland County."
Troy has no applications on file for building permits or
tax abatements or any other information from the company,
said Brian Murphy, assistant city manager for economic development
services. Economic development officials in Rochester Hills,
Southfield and Auburn Hills, all office space-rich cities,
also said they had no information about the company's plans.
The company plans to use an existing facility for the new
campus, Coonce said.
"The location has already been secured in metropolitan
Detroit," Winston said via e-mail.
"The metropolitan Detroit campus will be dedicated
to improving health and longevity as it relates to the science
of DNA research," Winston wrote. "Specifically,
some of the research currently planned for the campus include:
DNA therapy, DNA sequencing and genotyping, as well as other
related fields."
The new Oakland County facility will be one of two R&D
campuses planned for the Great Lakes region, Winston said.
He declined to say where the other campus would be located,
but said Kositech has pledged $500 million combined for
the two campuses and the Grass Lake headquarters.
The company will ultimately employ more than 1,500 among
the three new facilities, including roughly 1,000 new hires,
Winston said.
"We are in fact currently involved in advanced negotiations
for another location outside the metropolitan Detroit area,"
he said, adding that he could not divulge any more information
about that project.
The $500 million figure includes the cost of facilities,
equipment, furnishings and other relocation expenses, he
said.
The company said it plans to renovate and expand the vacant
53,000 square-foot facility in Grass Lake, which will consolidate
existing offices in Toronto and Los Angeles when it begins
operating in September 2008. It will house administrative,
clerical and sales offices. The Oakland County campus is
expected to open by the end of 2008.
Kositech Scientific
AG Of Singapore Today Announced Grass Lake Michigan As The
Location Of Their New North America Headquarters.
Grass Lake, Michigan and
Singapore (PRWEB) October 8, 2007 --
Construction and renovations began this month on the new
North American Headquarters of Kositech Scientific AG. The
facility was formerly the Cedar Knoll Care Center, located
at 9230 Cedar Knoll Drive, Grass Lake, Michigan. This 53,000
square foot complex is located on a park like setting at
Race Road and I-94; halfway between Detroit, Michigan and
Chicago, Illinois. The Grass Lake complex represents a consolidation
of Kositech’s North American Operations, and will
replace the current offices in Toronto, Canada and Los Angeles,
California by the end of next year.
" Kositech plans to have
the construction and renovations completed, and to fully
occupy the Grass Lake complex, by September of 2008. The
new complex will contain the administrative, clerical and
sales offices for Kositech Scientific’s American Operations"
said Mr. Steven J. Winston, Executive Vice President and
CFO for Kositech Scientific AG. "This is the latest
move in Kositech Scientific AG's aggressive expansion into
the US market. The headquarters in Grass Lake will be within
75 miles of our new 270,000 square foot research campus
in metropolitan Detroit, which is scheduled to open by the
end of next year."
The Grass Lake complex will directly
employ approximately 175 people, and will bring over 100
new jobs to the Grass Lake area. The Grass Lake complex
represents a $10,000,000 USD investment in the future of
Kositech Scientific AG.
About Kositech Scientific
AG
Kositech Scientific AG is a AAA rated, privately held corporation
with over 6,000 employees worldwide. Currently Kositech
is involved in research and development of medical equipment,
durable medical supplies, and in pharmaceutical research
and development. Kositech's corporate headquarters are located
in the heart of Singapore's financial district. Kositech
also maintains a large research and development campus in
Bangkok, Thailand; manufacturing in Accra, Ghana and China;
as well was numerous sales offices worldwide.
Kositech
Scientific Chooses United States for New Research Center
By: Joseph Wameyu
Business Reporter
Monday, 18 December 2006; 9:00 AM
MONDAY, 18 December 2006 (Ghana Daily
News) Kositech Scientific AG will not be locating their
much awaited, 500,000 square foot biotech research center
in Ghana, or anywhere in Africa for that matter.
Kositech Scientific AG operates
a 75,000 square foot pharmaceutical factory in Accra Ghana.
For over a year now Kositech has been shopping countries
around the world for the best deal in building a 500,000
square foot, state of the art, biotech research center.
Anytime a company such as Kositech is planning to spend
over 500 million US Dollars and employ over 1,500 people,
the states are high. Countries all over the world, including
Ghana, have been wooing Kositech Scientific executives for
over a year now.
Despite our hopes that this
facility would be located in Ghana, sources within Kositech
Scientific have stated that it will either be located in
the State of Michigan or Ohio, in the United States. This
state of the art facility is due to break ground before
June of next year. Kositech is expected to make the formal
announcement sometime after the first of the year.
This is yet another blow to
Ghana’s efforts to attract high tech industries to
Ghana. The center will employ over 1,500 people, consisting
chiefly of research staff. According to high level sources
within Kositech, “Kositech’s senior management
just did not feel that Africa had the infrastructure to
support such a state of the art facility. University availability,
internet and communications networks, as well as various
public services need to be world class to support such a
facility. Africa still has a ways to go to reach these levels”.
Kositech Scientific AG operates
a manufacturing facility in Accra which manufacturers pharmaceutical
products for the entire African Continent as well as the
Mideastern region. The factory in Accra employees about
300 people and is expected to expand.
Last week this reporter was
allowed to speak to Mr. Khalil, President/CEO of Kositech
Scientific. Mr. Khalil said “We at Kositech Scientific
greatly value the people as well as the Government of Ghana.
We plan to expand the manufacturing facilities and capabilities
of our Ghana factory within the next few years”.
Regarding the location of the
new facility Mr. Khalil said “Whereas the exact location
of our new research center has yet to be chosen, I can verify
that it will be located within the Great Lakes region of
the United States.” When I pressed Mr. Khalil further
he stated “Sir, I can understand your desires to have
me divulge the exact location; however, we still do not
have final location. Mr. Coonce, our Director of North American
Operations, chairs the selection committee for Kositech
Scientific, and it is that committee which will make the
final selection. I can tell you though, the selection committee
has narrowed the choices down to just a couple of locations,
both of which are in the Great Lakes region of the USA”.
So for now, I expect that Ghana,
and Africa for that matter, will need to continue to take
these high tech opportunities on step at a time. It was
quite an accomplishment to have a firm of Kositech Scientific’s
stature locate the manufacturing facility they did in Ghana.
If Ghana is able to continue to support firms such as Kositech,
then soon other high tech companies will consider exploring
the vast opportunities Ghana offers.
Asian Plant Root:
Most Effective Malaria Treatment
By Cole Mallard
Washington
25 January 2007
Malaria continues as a major health
threat, killing more than a million people a year, most
of them African children under age five. In the battle against
the disease, researchers are promoting a relatively new
and more effective approach using a substance extracted
from the root of a plant grown in China and Vietnam. It’s
called artemisinin and it’s said to be much more effective
than traditional drugs.
Dr. Peter Olumese is the World
Health Organization’s medical officer in charge of
global guidelines and policies for treating malaria. He
says artemisinin is the most effective anti-malarial drug
available today. He says it works against “resistance
parasites,” is relatively safe, and is very effective
when combined with other anti-malarial drugs, especially
in treating the most dangerous form of the disease -- falciparum
malaria. Olumese says, “The artemisinins are the only
hope we have presently.”
He says scientists have learned
from treating tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS with anti-retroviral
drugs that combination therapy is more effective than single
drug application. He says it’s important to combine
artemisinin with other drugs to reduce resistance, and that,
as of now, is WHO’s recommendation.
OUT OF REACH
Olumese says artemisinin-based
combination therapies (ACTs) are “significantly more
expensive than the traditional anti-malarial medicines,
like chloroquine.” He says, for example, chloroquine
treatment costs approximately ten cents per adult [per dose,]
whereas the artemisinin combinations cost approximately
$2.40 [per adult.] But he says traditional medicines are
virtually not useful now because of resistance buildup.
Olumese says effectively subsidizing
artemisinin therapies “is something that would really
make a big difference” in getting treatment to those
in need in sub-Saharan Africa and in other areas where malaria
is endemic, because the drugs are otherwise unaffordable.
He adds that the Global Fund, as well as President Bush’s
malaria initiative, “have helped a great deal in making
funds available for most governments in Africa to purchase
some of those medicines; however, there is still a big gap.”
Olumese says a report by the
US Institute of Medicine (IOM) recommended national, even
global, subsidies to bring down the price of the ACTs to
the point of no cost to the user, meaning it’s free
to those who cannot afford it; “otherwise we would
have very good medicines, but [they] would not have significant
impact.” But Olumese says that currently the Global
Fund, the president’s malaria initiative and the World
Bank are providing funds for the purchase of ACTS for Africa.
26 April 2006
ACCRA, Ghana and SINGAPORE,
Singapore (News Wire) Today Kositech Scientific
AG of Singapore announced the purchase of a 75,000 square
foot manufacturing facility in Accra, Ghana Africa. The
facility will be extensively remodeled and will be used
primarily for the manufacture of vaccines for use in the
African Continent.
"This is yet the latest move
in Kositech Scientific AG's aggressive expansion" said
Mr. Steven J. Winston, Executive Vice President and CFO
for Kositech Scientific AG. "Kositech Scientific AG
is currently poised to truly become a global leader in biotechnology.
We are also currently in the final stages of purchase of
a 200,000 square foot facility in the United States of America,
and another facility of similar size in the EU".
The Accra facility will employ approximately
250 people when complete and represents a $40,000,000 USD
investment in the future of Kositech Scientific AG.
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