Help Wanted: Scientists for New La Crosse Biotech Lab
By Reid Magney, La Crosse Tribune, Wis.
Apr. 6–A Madison biotech firm is looking at opening a laboratory in La Crosse.
OpGen Technologies Inc. has been advertising since mid-March for three scientists for “our new, state-of-the-art facility in La Crosse,” according to its Web site, www.opgen.com.
However, spokeswoman Kathy Mattson said Wednesday the firm isn’t ready to make any announcements.
“La Crosse is one of the locations OpGen is looking at. It’s very early now,” said Mattson. “We’re exploring labor market options before making any decisions.”
“I know they’ve shown some interest in the city, working with the Health Science Center,” said La Crosse Mayor Mark Johnsrud. “Nothing’s solidified.”
John Katrana, interim executive director of the La Crosse Medical Health Science Consortium, said Wednesday it is too soon to comment.
Johnsrud said attracting biotech firms like OpGen is “one of the reasons that facility was built.”
The Health Science Center is home to the area’s first biotech drug discovery firm, Mycophyte Discovery LLC, which was founded by academics from University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.
OpGen is a privately held company in the UW Research Park. Current investors include the State of Wisconsin Investment Board and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
OpGen describes itself as “a leading provider of genetic analysis services and systems.”
The Wisconsin State Journal said last year that OpGen is “working to map the genes of killer bacteria.”
The startup firm uses laser light, genetic scissors and incredibly tiny channels to pick out basic genetic differences that might identify drug-resistant bacteria strains in hospitals, the paper reported.
The technology was developed by founder and UW-Madison geneticist David Schwartz. OpGen’s scientific advisory board includes Kary Mullis, a Nobel prize-winning chemist.
Monday, OpGen announced plans to “develop and commercialize Optical Mapping instruments and disposables for research and clinical microbiology applications.” The company expects to launch the first system early in 2007.
Mattson said OpGen has 14 employees. The firm’s Web site says it is looking for a director of laboratory operations, a bioinformatician/genome analyst and a laboratory technician for a La Crosse facility. Those are the only help-wanted ads, and La Crosse is the only location mentioned. Ads also have appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper.
At least one top OpGen official should be familiar with the 7 Rivers Region. OpGen’s board chairman, Daniel Broderick, spent 18 years with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and completed graduate work in finance, accounting, and marketing at Winona State University, according to his biography. He is managing director of Mason Wells Biomedical Fund 1, one of OpGen’s venture investors.
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