AUSTIN (KXAN) - An Austin company is very close to gaining approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on a cancer treatment being used on patients at MD Anderson Cancer Center. <\/p>\n
KXAN News got a unique tour inside the XBiotech lab where is it being produced, packaged and shipped. <\/p>\n
Plastic bags lined the wall, filled with a red liquid where proteins were being made with genetically engineered cells that can stop cancerous tumors from growing. <\/p>\n
The company behind it, XBiotech, says a medical school in Austin can only help their cause. <\/p>\n
\"It just gets us more notoriety and it helps get a great drug like ours out,\" said XBiotech manufacturing director Josh Combs. <\/p>\n
Tom Kowalski, president of the Texas Healthcare of Bioscience Institute , says XBiotech is a prime example of the companies and breakthroughs a new medical school will bring to Austin. <\/p>\n
\"It will bring in top quality researchers on various disease groups from asthma, diabetes, oncology and heart disease,\" said Kowalski. <\/p>\n
The institute aims to recruit and keep life science companies in Texas. It is a $75 billion industry, and there are currently 3,400 across the state. According to Kowalski, there are around 160 life science companies in Austin that provide jobs for about 8,400 people. <\/p>\n
The medical school will also provide facilities for the company to conduct clinical trials, which is an important part of bringing a drug to the marketplace. That will provide benefits for Central Texas patients. <\/p>\n
\"Instead of driving to Houston or driving to Dallas for a clinical trial, at some point in the very near future, we'll be able to have clinical trials here where a patient can go and receive the type of medical treatment,\" said Kowalski. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
See the article here: AUSTIN (KXAN) - An Austin company is very close to gaining approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on a cancer treatment being used on patients at MD Anderson Cancer Center. KXAN News got a unique tour inside the XBiotech lab where is it being produced, packaged and shipped Continue reading
\nMed school could grow biotech biz<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"