Orion Integrated Biosciences has opened a new office in Manhattan, KS in order to more closely work with Kansas State University scientists to capitalize on the future opening of the National Bio and Agro-defense Facility, or NBAF.
CEO and founder of Orion Integrated Biosciences Willy Valdivia said that moving his company’s operations to Manhattan helps respond to “cycles of innovation that must happen very quickly.”
Orion specializes in biodefense by applying computer technology to manage large sets of genomic data. The company then gathers, stores, integrates and analyzes data to identify patterns that can be applied to a new generation of agro-defense countermeasures, according to Valdivia.
Orion will only move two employees to Manhattan for now with hopes to expand in the future as the company strengthens its development in diagnostics and vaccines. The new office will be located in the Manhattan/Kansas State University Innovation Center, part of the Kansas State University Research Park.
“There is significant potential for a small business like ours to interact closely with a university, given the specific capabilities we have,” Valdivia said. “This is a strategic move for our company because of Kansas State University and where NBAF is being built.
Lyle Butler, president of the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce feels that the move is a boost for the local economy. “The attracton of Orion Integrated Biosciences to Manhattan represents another win for our shared university/community economic development strategy to leverage NBAF and Kansas State University to create high-pay, knowledge-based jobs and grown the regional economy.”
Orion’s current projects are funded by the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Defense, and by the National Institute of Health.
“We do hope that by moving to Manhattan and that our collaboration here will bring more prokects in more opportunities for licensing new findings,” Valdivia said. “We are at a stage where we can grow more. Kansas, Kansas State University and NBAF open many opportunites for us. This will be a very successful collaboration.”