Pennington is open for business, director says

Dr. Steven Heymsfield, who has been director of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center for a little more than a year, says forming partnerships with the private sector will be a key element of the center’s new strategic plan. That plan is set to be released within the next several weeks. “There’s nothing we’d like to do more than to spark the development of new industries, new businesses, and to collaborate with existing businesses,” Heymsfield says. “I’m not sure how strong that view has been held in the past here, but it’s definitely one that’s firmly in place now.” Esperance Pharmaceuticals, an early-stage company developing a new class of anticancer drugs founded on technology discovered by scientists at Pennington, the LSU AgCenter and the main campus, closed on $7.5 million in financing earlier this year. Pennington receives about $14.25 million in state money this fiscal year, down from a peak of $17 million in 2008-09 and well short of the $20 million to $25 million Heymsfield says is needed to run at the optimal level. Only two of the four floors of the new clinical research building are occupied, and Heymsfield is unsure if the center will be able to open a new imaging center in February, as planned. Pennington also plans to do more work on chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cancer and dementia. Heysmfield hopes the new strategic plan will help attract additional state and philanthropic funding. —David Jacobs