Doctoral student Anne Chenchar, of Cheyenne, works in UW School of Pharmacy Professor
Sreejayan Nair’s biomedical research lab. As part of the university’s new Health and
Bioscience Innovation Hub, researchers in Nair’s lab are working with a Wyoming physician
who has an idea for treating and preventing an acute condition and needs UW’s help
with the basic research for his proof of concept. (UW Photo)
As part of the University of Wyoming’s new Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship
(IIE), a Health and Bioscience Innovation Hub will help entrepreneurs and researchers
develop next-generation health and wellness solutions.
“We believe that Wyoming has the potential to be a global center for health and wellness
innovations,” UW School of Pharmacy Dean Kem Krueger says.
These innovations can include human and animal pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, dietary
supplements, medical devices, wellness and sports medicine solutions, and personalized
and preventive medicine. The hub will serve as the interface for the human, physical
and financial resources necessary to develop intellectual property, from initial idea
to foundational research, through the launch of viable businesses that can enhance
Wyoming’s economic diversity.
The biotech startup market is characterized by the need for expensive equipment, high
failure rates and a regulatory approval process that results in a lengthy time from
proof of concept to market. Establishing the hub as a nonprofit entity in Wyoming
can serve as a catalyst to help entrepreneurs navigate these pitfalls, bringing together
funding, advisers, investors and talent to generate a self-sustaining and growing
entrepreneurial ecosystem. In addition to its other services, the hub will potentially
include laboratory spaces and equipment in several locations throughout the state.
The IIE calls on innovators from throughout the state as it works to instill entrepreneurial
thinking to graduate the leaders of tomorrow. Adding needed programs and drawing together
all UW colleges, business services and entrepreneurship competitions, the IIE serves
as the university’s front door for the state’s entrepreneurs.
As more and more people flee expensive big cities, Wyoming offers a distinct and balanced
lifestyle to entrepreneurs and bioscience professionals, IIE leaders say. The state
already has much of what is needed to constitute an entrepreneurial ecosystem for
innovations, and the Health and Bioscience Innovation Hub will help fill existing
gaps, providing capital, expert advising, facilities, equipment and a high-skilled
workforce. The hub also will serve as an oversight mechanism for investors and other
stakeholders, vetting projects and ensuring approved projects progress to market by
setting and reviewing specific benchmarks.
The Health and Bioscience Innovation Hub will be established as an independent, nonprofit
organization and will consist of two parts that work synergistically to meet client
needs at both ends of the product development cycle. One of the parts, SPARK-Wyoming1,
will be based at UW and will serve clients with projects in the early preclinical
phase of product development. The second part of the hub is an incubator/accelerator
focused on human and animal health startup biotech companies.
The SPARK program started at Stanford in 2006, and SPARK Global now has affiliated
programs at more than a dozen institutions worldwide.
“The mission of SPARK is to educate science researchers at universities to propel
their ideas from bench to bedside,” Krueger says. This includes helping academics
overcome obstacles, educating faculty and graduate students on the path to clinical
application, and developing more cost-effective approaches.
As part of the SPARK model, a volunteer board of expert advisers helps screen projects
and shepherd them through the process. Joining the network gives UW added resources
and opportunities for collaboration.
“We believe we can build the support for business and scientific infrastructure. The
idea is to create this biotech ecosystem whereby early-concept research comes to the
university,” Krueger says. “That can help support graduate students who, in turn,
build relationships with and learn to interact with private companies, in addition
to traditional public funding opportunities. We’re diversifying not only our research
funding stream but our opportunities for our graduate students as well.
“To this point, we believe that if we have sufficient funding and build in sufficient
infrastructure like connectivity and broadband, this will allow a startup company
to be housed in Jackson or Casper or Gillette or Sheridan rather than on the coasts.”
The hub already has its first client: a doctor from Gillette with an idea for treating
and preventing sepsis who was in need of basic research for his proof of concept.
He was paired with an expert researcher at UW whose lab can help.
In the future, the latest medicine to treat your condition or the latest medical device
may come from right here in Wyoming.
