Category: Community

SAB Biotherapeutics Awarded $27M Contract to Develop Novel Rapid Response Capability for U.S. Department of Defense

Posted on by meganjansick

Sioux Falls, S.D., March 31, 2020 – SAB Biotherapeutics (SAB), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, advancing a new class of immunotherapies leveraging the native human immune response, announced today it has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to develop and test a Rapid Response Antibody Program, valued at up to $27 million.

This progressive and competitive, three-stage, multi-year contract calls for the development of a state-of-the-art, pharmaceutical platform technology capable of rapidly and reliably producing antibody-based Medical Countermeasures (MCM) for biological threats. The goal of the program, awarded through DoD’s Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Defense (JPEOCBRND) Joint Project Lead CBRND Enabling Biotechnologies (JPL-CBRND-EB), is to accelerate the delivery of potent, human, polyclonal antibody therapeutics to address known and novel emerging biodefense (viral, bacterial or toxin) threats.

Driven by advanced genetic engineering and antibody science, SAB has developed the DiversitAb™ platform to naturally and rapidly produce large amounts of targeted human antibodies, without human donors.

Stage 1 of the contract, totaling $3.4 million, began in September of 2019 and continues through May 2020; demonstrating the platform’s potential to meet the DoD’s requirements for producing safe and efficacious cGMP material in less than six months at current scale. Stage 2 increases the scale of production to meet the DoD’s target number of doses of prototype drug product and fully-implemented demonstration of readiness. Stage 3 calls for production of an antibody product to an unknown threat, selected by the DoD in a “live fire” exercise as well as clinical activity through a Phase 1 trial.

We have an obligation to apply our proprietary capabilities to produce high-potency immunotherapies to virtually any target on a large scale, to a rapid response capacity.

Eddie J. Sullivan, PhD, SAB Biotherapeutics President, CEO and Co-Founder

“We have an obligation to apply our proprietary capabilities to produce high-potency immunotherapies to virtually any target on a large scale, to a rapid response capacity,” said Eddie J. Sullivan, PhD, SAB Biotherapeutics president, CEO and co-founder. “Our therapies leverage the native immune response thereby providing a highly-specific match against the complexity, diversity and mutation of disease.”

The company has developed more than a dozen effective antibodies from its DiversitAb platform in response to infectious disease targets during outbreaks of Ebola, Zika, Dengue and others.

“For a new disease target, we’re able to move quickly to a proof-of-concept in about 90 days,” added Sullivan.

“Infectious disease has been a strategic proving ground for our platform,” added Sullivan. “If we can perform under the most demanding of scenarios to challenging targets, it builds confidence that translates to a broader array of therapeutic programs,” Sullivan said.

SAB is also advancing a therapeutic pipeline including potential treatments for autoimmune diseases, inflammation, infectious diseases and cancers. The company recently entered a research collaboration with CSL Behring to explore new innovative immunotherapies, including human immunoglobulins.

“This initiative is solidifying a place for targeted human polyclonal antibodies in the immunotherapy space, showcasing the power of the native human biological immune response,” added Sullivan. “More importantly, we’re providing an innovative new tool in the medical countermeasures toolbox.”

About the JPEO-CBRND

The Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense is the Joint Service’s lead for development, acquisition, fielding and life-cycle support of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense equipment and medical countermeasures. As an effective acquisition program, we put capable and supportable systems in the hands of the service members and first responders, when and where it is needed, at an affordable price. Our vision is a resilient Joint Force enabled to fight and win unencumbered by a chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear environment; championed by innovative and state-of-the-art solutions.

About SAB Biotherapeutics, Inc.

SAB Biotherapeutics, Inc. (SAB), headquartered in Sioux Falls, S.D. is a clinical-stage, biopharmaceutical company advancing a new class of immunotherapies leveraging fully human polyclonal antibodies. Utilizing some of the most complex genetic engineering and antibody science in the world, SAB has developed the only platform that can rapidly produce natural, highly-targeted, high-potency, human polyclonal immunotherapies at commercial scale. The company is advancing programs in autoimmunity, infectious diseases, inflammation and oncology.

Media contacts: Melissa Ullerich mullerich@sabbiotherapeutics.com +1 605-679-4609

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Development Foundation Connects Design Professionals with City Hall

Posted on by meganjansick

City Hall Connections

The Sioux Falls Development Foundation, in partnership with the City of Sioux Falls, recently hosted two events targeting architects and engineers in the Sioux Falls area. These events were offered as part of the Development Foundation’s Business Retention and Expansion (BR&E) initiative, which focuses on local economic development opportunities.

Architectural and engineering firms work day-in and day-out to help grow our community. These professions work to design neighborhoods, business parks, buildings and so much more that contribute to Sioux Falls. One area the Development Foundation is focused on is the importance of developing relationships and strong communication between our private sector companies and public sector officials.

During a BR&E visit with an existing company in Sioux Falls, the Foundation learned about the company’s frustration with City Hall due to imposed requirements associated with their expansion project. The Development Foundation discovered there was a miscommunication between the City, the contractor, the engineering firm and the company. As it turns out, the requirements that formed the basis of the company’s frustrations were in fact not required. This resulted in financial savings for the company and a better working relationship with City Hall.

On January 22 and February 11, architecture and engineering professionals were invited to attend an Open House event with the City’s Planning and Development Services Department to learn what’s new with permitting processes and plan reviews and to interact with the individuals that work at the City on these projects. These events marked one solid step forward in cultivating strong relationships between our business sector and the City of Sioux Falls, so that when companies make investments to expand, they have a great experience.

 

Mike Gray
To learn more contact

Mike Gray

Director of Business, Retention & Expansion

Workforce development priorities focus on drawing talent, educating for future needs

Posted on by shannonmollet
Originally Published by SiouxFalls.Business
Kurt Loudenback knows what it’s like to have to hire dozens of people to keep a business growing.

That’s what success has meant for Grand Prairie Foods, the company he and his wife, Valerie, have grown into a national provider of food products to the hospitality industry.

About a year ago, there were 150 employees. Now, that number has grown to more than 200.

 

We believe we’ll be well over 225, maybe pushing 250 by midsummer,” Loudenback said. “We use many hiring methods, and we’ve been able to do it, but in today’s low unemployment environment, that’s not easy to do.

Grand Prairie could be a proverbial poster child, though, for workforce development efforts in Sioux Falls.

The company has been a leader in working to connect the refugee and immigrant population with job opportunities. In return, word of mouth has led to more workers. Grand Prairie also works closely with LSS to help build a pipeline of potential employees.

“My message is don’t try to do everything internally,” Loudenback said. “It’s important to be engaged in the community and important to understand the resources available.”

The Sioux Falls Development Foundation strives to be the place for businesses to connect to those resources, and with new leadership and a renewed focus on workforce development, it’s a significant priority for this year and beyond.

“Workforce development is the predominant discussion we hear from businesses, and it’s across the board from skilled trades to professional trades,” said Bob Mundt, the foundation’s president.

“Everyone needs workers: The service industry, manufacturing, processing, banks, insurance, everyone is looking for people.”

It can be a broad and daunting topic to tackle, but the Development Foundation is guided by a strategic action agenda set forth in the most recent five-year Forward Sioux Falls campaign.

These interlocking circles show how the foundation blends talent attraction and retention with talent development efforts.

Leading the effort is Denise Guzzetta, who joined the foundation in late 2018 as vice president of talent and workforce development. Her background includes two decades in the global finance and benefit industries with Fortune 50 companies.

“Denise has the credibility within the corporate arena to bring meaningful change. Her experience in creating new career development initiatives necessary for economic growth provides an effective platform to connect with the human resource community,” Mundt said.

“She’s aligning all of the pieces necessary to fully implement the strategic workforce action agenda. From students to educators to HR and business leaders, she has the background we need to connect with all those populations.”

In her first few months, Guzzetta has laid out a robust plan for advancing the strategic action.

“The Development Foundation’s role is to make sure that businesses have what they need in order to expand,” she said. “And the largest component of that is a very engaged, educated workforce. It’s critical. It’s the No. 1 need we have today.”

Dave Rozenboom agrees. The president of First Premier Bank also chairs the joint venture management committee of Forward Sioux Falls.

“As a banker, we have a lot of customers who are in business, and the No. 1 theme I hear is the single biggest limiting factor our customers have, and the business community has at large, to continue to grow and expand their business or own economy would be the labor shortages that we face,” he said.

“If you look at the Sioux Falls metropolitan area and you look back 25 years, you look back 50 years, clearly we’ve benefited from a rural-to-urban migration. And now as you look at the next 25 years, you realize that probably isn’t going to repeat itself, certainly at the same level.”

That requires the community to grow its population from alternative sources, including urban-to-urban migration and the immigrant and refugee population, he said.

The area also is challenged by its high labor force participation rate, which Rozenboom estimates is 74 percent to 75 percent of people age 18 to 65, compared with the national rate of 62 percent.

“We know we’ve got a population here that likes to work,” he said. “They’ve got a strong work ethic. The challenge is we’ve probably maximized as much of the labor participation rate as we can get, so we’ll really be dependent on population growth to provide that workforce for the future.”

Targeted approach

The Development Foundation’s approach to workforce development starts with the number 2,173. That’s how many post-secondary students have been identified in a 100-mile radius with education in fields where area businesses need expertise.

“They represent finance, general business, engineers, construction trades, health care trades, precision mechanical trades. We need those people here now to fulfill the needs of the community,” Guzzetta said.

“The No. 1 thing this year is to pull more talent into the area. We’re focusing heavily on bringing them in through talent tours, talent draft days, and we’re looking at targeting an expanded radius by working with our area colleges and technical institutes to reach out to their alumni about opportunities to come back to the area.”

The foundation also remains nimble in its approach to worker outreach. Grand Prairie Foods has seen the benefit of that firsthand.

When Gold’n Plump closed its chicken-processing plant in Luverne, Minn., in late 2017, the Development Foundation led targeted marketing efforts directed at displaced workers.

“We ended up hiring half a dozen skilled positions from that facility in our company,” Loudenback said. “I can’t say directly what brought us those people, but certainly the total campaign had a positive effect. That’s an example of what it’s done for us and what we believe is an opportunity to help attract talented folks in the region.”

Community effort

Achieving those big goals will take participation from across the business community and represents an opportunity for businesses to get involved.

Loudenback has stepped up already by chairing the workforce-talent committee for the Development Foundation, helping develop workforce strategies.

“There’s an internal and an external effort,” he said. “Internally, we want to make sure there’s engagement with businesses and the education community in Sioux Falls to ensure we’re meeting their future workforce needs. The external component involves outreach to education institutions in surrounding states and to individuals to essentially recruit from those communities.”

Guzzetta has formed a recruitment council with committees working on talent acquisition, talent incentives and career-based training. There has been strong interest from the business community, but others can still participate.

My message to businesses is to get your people involved with us, come work with us, be part of this community, and we develop talent programming and get engaged,” she said.

The Development Foundation will continue to share information, resources and best practices through its Workforce Information Now digital portal.

Achieving the goals of the strategic action agenda and building the pipelines necessary for best-in-class workforce development will take time, Mundt added.

“Be patient,” he urged businesses. “Get connected by participating in our talent programs, our recruiting programs, job fairs we’ll be having, our WIN content, and if you have questions or comments or criticisms, call us.”

It’s a collective, community effort to develop the future workforce, he said.

“It will take us doing our job at the Development Foundation but also will take companies doing their job to create the type of environment people want to be part of, remaining flexible in their benefits programs and hiring practices and being open-minded to new ideas and maybe new populations.”

Back at Grand Prairie Foods, Loudenback echoed that sentiment.

“There’s a vibrant process in place now to make sure the needs are defined, and there’s communication going on to make sure the workforce is educated to meet those needs,” he said. “Let’s continue to build Sioux Falls as a community together, and let’s not try to do it independently.”