If the state’s largest research hospital has its way, biotechnology in Oregon could be in for a boost in the coming years.

If the state Legislature approves of an initiative titled ”The Oregon Opportunity,” scientific leaders such as Dr. Peter Kohler hope to capitalize on what Kohler calls an ”opportunity for major growth.”

Kohler is president of Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) in Portland, a nationally recognized research hospital.

The Oregon Opportunity is a $500 million proposal to improve the state’s biotechnology infrastructure over the next two decades.

Supporters of the initiative, led by OHSU, hope to capitalize on the increasing amount of biomedical research being done across the country.

A $200 million bond would be combined with $300 million that sources such as state and federal foundations, private donors and trusts would hopefully contribute, said Ellie Booth, campaign manager for The Oregon Opportunity.

Approximately $10 million a year for the proposal has been earmarked in the governor’s current budget proposal, Booth said. However, in order to finance the bond, that amount may need to climb to between $13 and $15 million per year, she added. The money would come from the $94 million Booth said Oregon is receiving each year in a settlement with the tobacco industry.

In November 1998, the country’s four largest tobacco companies signed a settlement with 46 states agreeing to pay $206 billion over 25 years to cover public health costs related to smoking.

More than a dozen state senators and representatives, including Rep. Ben Westlund of Bend, are sponsoring the initiative. It hasn’t yet been assigned a bill number. Key sponsors are Sen. Dave Nelson of Pendleton and Rep. Mark Simmons of Elgin.

Although the initiative is still in legislative draft form, it has generated a lot of discussion, said Sen. Bev Clarno, R-Redmond.

”I think it’s an excellent idea, an opportunity to have leading-edge research in Oregon,” she said. The Oregon Opportunity would benefit Central Oregon by bringing new businesses to the area and offering existing businesses the opportunity to expand, she said.

”If there’s a way to do it, we’ll make sure we do it,” Clarno said.

No one knows better than Dan Brose just how bright the future of Central Oregon’s biotechnology industry could be. Brose is the founder of Chemica Technologies, Inc., in Bend, which develops pharmaceutical products and therapies including drugs to treat tuberculosis.

The company licenses its products and technologies to industry partners, but won’t name them because of proprietary reasons.

Other area companies working in the biomedical research field include Bend Research, Inc.; Deschutes Medical Products, Grace Biolabs and Mini-Mitters.

Just like its statewide and nationwide counterparts, Central Oregon’s biotechnology industry has expanded in recent years, Brose said. Preparing for this growth and ensuring that Oregon positions itself to take part in future increases in biomedical research that are predicted by the National Institutes of Health is a top priority for statewide scientific leaders, including Kohler.

Clarno said she is cautiously optimistic about the Legislature approving the initiative. Although biotechnology is the type of industry the state wants to pursue in the future, the investment is significant.

OHSU

”It is a lot of money, and everyone is concerned because we don’t want to bond beyond what we’re able to pay back,” she said.

”It’s an effort to build biotechnology as one of the economic underpinnings of the state,” Kohler said. ”There’s a culture we need to create to help biotechnology flourish in the area.”

Now is the ideal time for the state to focus money and attention on the biotechnology industry, Booth said: ”It’s an effort to capture some of the medical research benefits that stem from the Human Genome Project.”

Started in 1990, the Human Genome Project sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Energy is an ambitious undertaking to generate a map of the approximate 100,000 genes in the human body, according to the project Web site.

Two teams of scientists from the National Human Genome Research Institute and Maryland-based Celera Genomics are leading the project, the Web site stated. The project is slated for completion in 2003, at which time the entire human genetic code will be accessible for further biological study.

Once the Human Genome Project is completed, Booth said the amount of medical research worldwide will accelerate, and Oregon needs to be prepared to attract research dollars to the state.

The economic benefits of biomedical research are substantial, she said, with OHSU currently bringing in almost $200 million a year in out-of-state research funds and driving about $2 billion in regional economic activity annually, she said.

”We believe the biotech industry will generate well over a billion dollars in the next few years,” Kohler added. ”We need to be a more substantial presence, and that’s why this is so urgent.”

Over the past 10 years, OHSU has worked to increase its medical research, and the amount of research money increases every year, Booth said.

Research money comes mainly from the National Institutes of Health, private foundations and organizations such as the American Cancer Society, the March of Dimes and others, Booth said. The university received about $168 million in research dollars in 2000, and that amount is expected to top $200 million this year, she said.

Oregon’s scientific community now has a tremendous opportunity to take advantage of the increasing amount of research that lies just around the corner, she added.

”But to take the next step, money needs to be invested in the state’s research infrastructure,” Booth said. ”Oregon needs to compete with other states and institutions that are vying for the business. It’s a real economic development tool.”

The concept is not necessarily to build new research facilities, Booth said, but instead to partner with existing institutions such as Eastern Oregon University, the Oregon Cancer Center and biotechnology businesses across Oregon.

In addition to providing the funds to expand research facilities and purchase additional research equipment, the initiative is comprised of various components, including the Health, Education, Research Oregon Network a high-speed, secure Internet network to provide research and health-related education to sites across Oregon.

Another piece of The Oregon Opportunity puzzle is a health institute to be established in a rural Oregon community, Booth said. The institution an incubator for ideas, research and new businesses would allow local businesses the opportunity to partner with OHSU for research activities and clinical trials, she said.

Chemica Technologies has worked with OHSU in the past, said vice president of technology Ray Colton. Chemica has paid OHSU to do certain testing procedures, he said, and Chemica’s researchers have teamed with OHSU researchers to perform work that Colton said otherwise could not have been accomplished at Chemica. He declined to be more specific.

The Chemica team is hoping to see the rural health institute placed in Central Oregon. The institute would provide a cross-over between academia, research and businesses in the area, said Takuji Tsukamoto, vice president of research and development for Chemica.

The presence of an OHSU laboratory in Central Oregon could provide the type of collaboration that researchers currently have to seek in other parts of the state, he added.

”Having OHSU become a premier research institution will enhance the state’s biotechnology industry,” Colton added. ”It would allow us access to laboratory facilities that we wouldn’t be able to afford ourselves.”

All area biotechnology businesses would benefit, Brose said.

”It could help existing businesses and attract more biomedical companies to the area,” Brose said. ”This area now has the nucleus of companies that are starting to take off, and that’s what I want to see.”