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Biopharm Development & Manufacturing station, now a museum, and the Mutter Gottes Catholic Church, a massive Italian Renaissance revival structure built in the 19th century. BioLOGIC was able to meet the Federal legislative requirements and obtained a substantial boost from this source. THE SEARCH FOR THERAPEUTIC WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY weighing all the relevant factors, this was the right choice for Bexion. We have Fortune 500 companies in the area, and we draw from a diverse population whose experience and history motivate us to drive forward. We can create a space in which to work that is accessible and affordable while meeting our needs for a stimulating social and intellectual environment. We don't need to be in San Diego or San Francisco, because Covington, while small, has the benefit of being next to a larger city with amenities and universities. I believe the network of northern Kentucky cities that have a common hunger to be better drives bolder thinking and quicker action on opportunities. That sort of mentality fits in with our idea of a pioneer spirit. We can't afford NOT to get things done." The companies that are forming under the bioLOGIC umbrella constitute the basis for a community of investigators that are building collaborative agreements with themselves and with other research groups both locally and internationally. "We founded Bexion on the concept of developing new cancer therapies and building our own network for cancer research and expanding our efforts within and beyond the community," Takigiku added. "Similarly, bioLOGIC has a sister company in Ft. Collins, CO, and affiliations with offices in Shanghai, Australia, and France." Takigiku, the CEO of Bexion, is a transplant from the Proctor and Gamble Pharma division, where he was director of core technologies and played a role in the development and marketing of Actonel, an anti-osteoporosis therapeutic, and Asacol, for the treatment of ulcerative colitis. Bexion's technology is based on the fact that virtually all cancer cells possess the membrane component phosphatidylserine on the outside of the cell membrane, rather than on the inside, as is the case for normal cells. Saposin C is a possible therapeutic agent owing to its ability to interact with the phosphatidylserine present in the cancer cell outer membrane. Bexion has developed Saposin C–dioleoylphosphatidylserine nanovesicles and evaluated their killing potential on malignant and nonmalignant cell lines as well as tumors in experimental animals. The compound, referred to as BXQ-350, targets and treats a broad range of solid tumors without damaging nonmalignant cells. The comTHE FUTURE IS NOW pany anticipates entry into clinical trial Both Bexion and bioLOGIC have charlater in 2013. tered their own respective courses, "While our long-term goal is developing while taking advantage of the desire of treatments for cancer, I am hopeful that a community to expand its high-tech we can open a dialog for new approaches base and the willingness of the state that move away from targeting abnormal and local foundations to back up their genes," Takigiku says. "Our strategy is just Dr. Ray Takigiku, Bexion expansionist goals with solid cash. This one of a number of new ways of looking at game plan could not have succeeded if cancer treatment." the region were already thick with high-tech enterprises. As long Bexion's approach is quite different from most therapeutics that as the companies within bioLOGIC are able to move their products target cancer cells, given that it addresses a fundamental property of forward, they will be likely to gather more private and governmenthe cancer cell, without which it cannot flourish. For this reason it tal support. seems unlikely that tumor cells could develop resistance to the drug. Taking biological inventions from the laboratory to the clinic is a Moreover, the side effects from its application would be predicted to challenging task, requiring years of effort and evaluation. Bexion be much less severe than conventional chemotherapy, which is often will need funding and clinical success as it moves its technology accompanied by devastating side effects. forward in the coming years. So far its efforts to confront estabA BUSINESS MODEL THAT FITS THE ENVIRONMENT lished wisdom have brought gains that probably could not have Takigiku is enthusiastic concerning his business plan. "Covington has been realized if it had followed the conventional routes to biotechpluses and minuses," he stated. "One disadvantage is that northern nology development. But its eclectic business model is a work in Kentucky has no research establishment and no medical school. But progress that will be judged by the company's success. "We don't need to be in San Diego or San Francisco, because Covington, while small, has the benefit of being next to a larger city with amenities and universities." 36 LifeScienceLeader.com July 2013