OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR HEALTH SCIENCES

PROJECT PURPOSE

The Oklahoma City Innovation District, which concentrates a substantial portion of the State?s R&D assets, focuses on drug development as a core competency. The OSU-Center for Health Sciences proposes to establish a biotech pharmaceutical R&D laboratory within the Innovation District on acreage it owns contiguous to the newly-established Hamm Institute for American Energy, leveraging unique pharmaceutical research assets that will propel this investment into a data-driven laboratory that optimizes the successful translation from research bench to clinical practice. Given the relationship with OSU?s National Center for Wellness and Recovery - which offers assets including 50,000 human blood/DNA samples and the opportunity to draw upon pharmaceutical industry research through two significant bio-tech hubs of innovation - this research will combine with medical education opportunities, delivery of innovative patient care, and industry and academic partnerships to save lives and prevent substance use disorders for generations. Expanding the research capacity of the District, this investment will have a transformational impact on all of Oklahoma?s citizens and particularly on those impacted by the global opioid pandemic. $64.8 million will be used for the design and construction of an 80,000 square-foot research facility along with all specialized research equipment and FFE, and $31 million will be used for startup support for recruiting nationally-recognized scientists.

EVIDENCE

Through its multidisciplinary team of scientists, physicians, researchers and educators, the National Center for Wellness at Recovery at OSU develops answers for chronic pain and substance use disorders while safeguarding future generations from addiction through research, medical education and community advocacy. With innovative patient care methods, the Center increases healthcare access to all Oklahomans and delivers hope to those suffering. Now, in the wake of COVID-19, a unique, once-in-a-generation opportunity exists to build on the Center?s research and treatment prowess and to drive economic opportunity in Oklahoma?s two major urban areas: a new Tulsa-based biotech sector focused on drug development to address opioid disorders and pain management, and a flagship laboratory for biomedical research in Oklahoma City?s Innovation District.

POPULATION DESCRIPTION

As the leader in training the State?s rural healthcare providers ? including physicians ? OSU is naturally positioned to help leverage new research in pharmaceuticals for the benefit of rural and underserved populations who suffer disproportionately from the opioid epidemic. Oklahoma ranks forty-eighth in overall health outcomes, driven by the prevalence of heart disease, obesity, and mental health and addiction. These problems are further exacerbated by the lack of access to primary care in rural parts of the state. Much of the State?s medically-underserved population lives in rural areas ? a fact that makes them 87% more likely to receive an opioid prescription than their urban counterparts. According to an Oct. 1, 2021 report by Kaiser Health News, about 1 in 434 rural Americans have died of COVID thus far, compared with roughly 1 in 513 urban Americans, the institute?s data shows. And though vaccines have reduced overall COVID death rates since the winter peak, rural mortality rates are now more than double urban rates ? and accelerating quickly.

PERFORMANCE MEASURING

The project will be measured by the amount of sponsored research funds received through federal and private sources. Additionally, the project will produce a significant number of scientific publications and US patents that will further attract external collaborators, including industry, which in turn will accelerate the development and commercialization of new approaches in pharmaceutical innovation. Finally, the laboratory should spin out start-up pharmaceutical companies that can take research innovations and bring them to market in the form of new diagnostic and therapeutic treatments, thus driving economic activity in the District and for the State.

ONGOING INVESTMENT AMOUNT

$

ONGOING INVESTMENT DESCRIPTION

The OSU-Center for Health Sciences anticipates a number of funding sources with potential interest in the ongoing operations of the laboratory, including existing pharma companies located in the District, throughout the State and within the opioid-treatment segment of the industry.

ONGOING INVESTMENT REQUIRED

Not able to continue operation without additional funding from the State of Oklahoma