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Senator Spano Funnels $20 Million to Biotech Projects

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(Original publication: September 14, 2006)
Read story on The Journal News Website - Spano Funnels $20 Million to Biotech Projects

Three new biotech projects are on tap for Westchester County, including a giant facility in Yonkers to breed laboratory mice for medical research.

State Sen. Nick Spano, R-Yonkers, said yesterday that he has secured $20 million in state grants to create biotech centers that will ultimately bring hundreds of new jobs to the Lower Hudson Valley.

"We fully expect this will be a magnet for biotech research companies and will create hundreds of jobs over the next few years," Spano said.

Three-quarters of the money will come from New York state's Gen*NY*sis initiative, which is designed to promote biotech research. The current state budget has $240 million in funds available for projects in the initiative.

The remaining $5 million is a grant from the state senate. The money will be paid over the next two years.

The centerpiece project for Westchester is a 45,000-square-foot center capable of housing 40,000 mouse cages with the potential to double that number in five years.

The AMDeC, a consortium of 35 New York medical schools, academic health centers and medical research organizations, will receive $10 million to build the mouse facility at Yonkers' i.park Hudson complex.

Up to 125 new jobs will be created at the mouse center, Spano said.

Spano said adequate space to breed lab mice is essential in recruiting top-flight scientists and grant funding to the state.

Yonkers competed with other venues in New York for the mouse facility, including the Brooklyn Navy Yard industrial park and Staten Island, Spano said.

Dr. Maria Mitchell, president of AMDeC, called mice a critical component of medical research because 99 percent of mouse genes have counterparts in humans, making the animals ideal for genetic and biological experiments. Research institutions across the state will use the mice.

The other two grants, at $5 million each, will establish new centers at existing medical organizations in Valhalla.

Spano said he's not sure exactly how many jobs will be created at those centers. "We hope to increase staffing at both facilities. How much, it's too early to speculate," he said.

The Westchester Institute for Human Development will receive $5 million to establish the Center on Disability, Health and Technology.

The center, which will be located on the grounds of the Westchester Medical Center, will develop new technologies to improve the lives of people with disabilities.

The remaining $5 million is slated for the establishment of the Hudson Valley Center for Health Sciences, Biotechnology and Public Health at New York Medical College.

Spano is running for re-election this year against Democrat State Senate candidate Andrea Stewart-Cousins.

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