Integrated Animal Health (IAH) said it has decided to move its headquarters from Australia to the U.S. and will base its global operations in Lawrence, KS.
Earlier this year, the company said it was looking to open up North American operations in what is marketed as the Kansas City Animal Health Corridor, which is defined as a region that spans from Columbia, MO, to Manhattan, KS.
To start out with, Integrated Animal Health will lease 700 square feet at the Bioscience & Technology Business Center at the University of Kansas, the company said in a press release. About 51 positions will be added over the next two years. Integrated Animal Health will be the 35th tenant in the Bioscience & Technology center, which totals about 150 positions accounting for more than $8 million in payroll.
"As we looked at locales literally from the California coast to the Eastern seaboard, we kept coming back to the concentration of talent and opportunities in the Animal Health Corridor," Rob Neely, the company's founder, said in a statement. "We were struck by the work ethic of the area and the openness of the people and companies here to our breakthrough technologies."
Last month, the company announced its first major research pact when it agreed to 10-year partnership with Northwest Missouri State University's (NMSU) Dean L. Hubbard Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The company will work with Hubbard on new technologies meant to improve herd health. Integrated Animal Health is developing a variety of feed additives to boost fertility, control the disease mastitis, promote weight gain, and reduce reliance on antibiotics.
More than 300 animal health companies are located along the corridor, giving the Midwest stretch of landscape the largest concentration of like companies in the world.
- check out the release