(This is a reformatted version of a press release issued by Governor Pataki and obtained from www.ny.gov.)

June 2, 2006

GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES OPENING OF BUFFALO CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN BIOINFORMATICS AND LIFE SCIENCES

The University at Buffalo, Roswell Park and Hunter James Kelly Institute are Opening the Doors to their new Facility

Governor Pataki today joined Federal, State, and local officials as well as top researchers and scientists in Western New York to celebrate the opening of the Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences. The Center is comprised of the University at Buffalo, Roswell Park Cancer Institute Center for Genetics and Pharmacology and the Hauptman-Woodward Institute, which housed together, produces a unique and powerful combination of technologies and research expertise that will foster advances in science and health care.

Total investment in the Center of Excellence is now nearly $320 million including the $61 million for the new facility and $80 million in state resources for Roswell Park, the Hauptman-Woodward Institute and the Hunter James Kelly Institute, $120 million in corporate partner investments, $27.75 million in federal dollars and $30 million in foundation grants.

The Center of Excellence private sector partners include; Hewlett-Packard, General Dynamics, Dell, Stryker, Informax, Pfizer, Invitrogen Corporation, Cognigen, TATA Corporation, HealthCare Tech Inc., General Electric, Bristol- Myers Squibb, Corning, and IBM.

"The official opening of the Buffalo Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences represents another major milestone in our efforts to transform Buffalo and Western New York into a world-class center for research and development of the life sciences," Governor Pataki said. "The Buffalo Center of Excellence is an unprecedented collaboration, led by the University at Buffalo, and includes the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, and the Hauptman-Woodward Research Institute and the Hunter James Kelly Institute that will serve as a catalyst here in Western New York for further groundbreaking medical research."

The opening of the new Center of Excellence will bring new research, technical and support staff positions to Western New York. RPCI will begin with 120 employees recruited since 1999 and will expand that number to 200, the University at Buffalo's staff will grow to 200 and the Hauptman-Woodward Institute currently has 56 employees and expects to expand to 100 employees. Total employment at the Center of Excellence is expected to be 500 and will produce many new private sector jobs in the region.

United States Senator Charles Schumer said, "The Bioinformatics Center is a bold step forward for Buffalo into the ideas economy of the 21st century. I fought for federal dollars because I knew this project would bring jobs, growth and prestige to this great city."

United States Senator Hillary Clinton said, "As we continue to invest in the future of Buffalo and Western New York in a changing economy and more competitive world, today's grand opening is part of a larger story: Buffalo is serving our health as well as the health of the Western New York economy. The Center of Excellence has helped fuel the Life Sciences economy in Buffalo- Niagara, with documentation of over 4,000 new and retained Life Sciences jobs in the areas since the initiation of this project. I have been proud to do my part in helping to secure at the federal level more than $26 million to invest in this Center. Furthermore, I understand federal funding used by the Center has led to a five to one return in new NIH and private foundation awards for Center of Excellence scientists."

Congressman Thomas Reynolds said, "Today's grand opening of the Bioinformatics Center here in Buffalo is an historic breakthrough and development for Western New York's economy and culture. My colleagues and I have long recognized the value of public-private partnerships in helping to create jobs here in Western New York and Buffalo, and that is why we have helped secure more than $25 million in federal investments for the Center. I will continue to fight for all opportunities and endeavors that will develop a 21st century economy and create high-tech, high-paying jobs in the Buffalo-Niagara region."

State Senator Dale M. Volker said, "Several years ago, the State Legislature, in cooperation with Governor Pataki, realized that in order for our region to reinvent itself, we had to look within and invest in academic institutions who were working and researching on cutting edge technologies and scientific innovations. This core belief was that science institutes, universities, private enterprise and state authorities must join forces to speed up the transfer of these innovations from academia into the corporate sector. Today's event is a testament to the State of New York's commitment to this ideal and the significant economic ripple effect that this relatively new segment of our state's economy is contributing to our state's economy."

Assembly Majority Leader Paul Tokasz said, "The opening of this Center represents a new beginning for our region's economy. Speaker Silver, myself and the Western New York delegation are pleased to have been a part of the effort to create the Center of Excellence. We intend to maintain our commitment to the Center and the Western New York economy by building on this investment in effort to ensure this region's role in the new economy."

City of Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown said, "Today's ribbon cutting marks a significant economic development accomplishment, which has already spurred other investment and development activities in and around the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. The message this event sends is clear -- now is the right time to invest and grow businesses in Buffalo. I look forward to future life science and health industry developments, along with other commercial and residential projects, in this and other areas of the city."

The Buffalo Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences merges high-end technology, including supercomputing and visualization and creates a unique and powerful combination of technologies and research expertise that is fostering advances in science and health care. The Center will work on development of diagnostics and therapeutics related to Neurodegenerative diseases, Cancer, anti-infectives, including those to combat pandemics, and inflammatory diseases like cardiac, stroke, and obesity.

This project not only produced savings for taxpayers through the joint construction approach, but it will also provide researchers from Roswell Park, Hauptman-Woodward and the Center of Excellence with the opportunity to collaborate, interact and exchange ideas, creating a new scientific synergy in Buffalo that will lead to new ideas and innovations.

As part of the Center, the Roswell Park Cancer Institute for Genetics and Pharmacology will house two world-renowned scientific teams, representing the best and brightest in cancer genetics research and new cancer drug development.

RPCI instituted the nation's first chemotherapy program, pioneered studies on the relationship between smoking and lung cancer and developed photodynamic therapy and the prostate-specific antigen blood test. The Institute also made significant contributions to the landmark human genome project. Roswell Park's Center for Pharmacology and Therapeutics is one of the few centers in the nation capable of all phases of drug development, from the conceptual stage through manufacturing and testing.

University at Buffalo President John B. Simpson said, "The opening of the Center of Excellence begins a new era for our unique partnership between the University and its world class partners in the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. I'm thrilled that UB's leadership of this effort will fuel cutting edge research and a vibrant life sciences economy for the region."

David C. Hohn, MD, President and CEO of RPCI said, "Roswell Park Cancer Institute is pleased to welcome UB's expanded presence on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. Within the walls of the Buffalo Life Sciences Complex, and in the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute - which opened last year, scientists are conducting ground breaking research on a wide range of diseases. This state-of-the-art research complex brings together a life sciences 'brain trust' that is singularly focused on developing new treatments and new ways to prevent illness. We owe a debt of gratitude to our elected officials and the community for their financial support and advocacy."

Bruce Holm, Executive Director, NYS Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences said, "The completion of this three-building Life Sciences Complex in downtown Buffalo signals the beginning of a new high technology medicine era for both the region and the state of New York. Governor Pataki's initiation of the Center of Excellence program is now resulting in the implementation of a vision of this state's future."

Candace S. Johnson, PhD, Senior Vice President for Translational Research, Professor of Molecular Pharmacology and the Robert Lew and Ann Wallace Chair for Translational Research, Roswell Park Cancer Institute said, "The only way to make translational research work is to bring different groups of individuals together, give them time, and build a bridge between the clinical world and the basic world. These new buildings here on the Roswell Park campus mirror that research goal and will allow for increased collaboration between the members of the Buffalo Life Sciences Complex. The expansion of Roswell Park's working relationships with other leading research institutions such as UB and the Hauptman-Woodward Research Institute will not only energize Roswell Park's efforts to magnify its own intellectual capital but also lead to a strong, vibrant life-sciences economy for Western New York."

Construction on the Center of Excellence facility opening today began in September of 2003. The facility contains approximately 310,000 square feet of which 140,000 will be occupied by the University at Buffalo and its partners for super-computing to analyze huge volumes of biological data, commercialization of new products, drug design, workforce development and three-dimensional visualization facilities. It also contains state-of-the-art technology including nanomedicine clean room facilities, humidity controlled robotics laboratories, x-ray crystallography facilities, parallel, and high performance computing and visualization capabilities that allow 22 trillion computational operations per second.

Also included is 170,000 square feet of the Roswell Park Cancer Institute Center for Genetics and Pharmacology that will accommodate over 200 employees, including 60 principal investigators. 24 Research Group Laboratories that will support key scientific resources including DNA croarray/Genomics, Gene Expression/Affymetrix, Cell Analysis and Biopolymer, and a 150-seat Auditorium.

Construction on the 72,000 sq. ft. Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute began in November of 2003 opened in May of 2005. The State provided $14 million in funding towards the $24 million construction of the new building, which is a vital component of the Center of Excellence complex on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

Today's announcement also includes the initiation of the Hunter Kelly Institute within the Center. The Hunter James Kelly Research Institute (HJKRI) is a partnership between UB and the Hunter's Hope Foundation. The HJKRI will be located in the New York State Center for Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences at the University at Buffalo. All Hunter's Hope funded research will be coordinated through the HJKRI. The institute will focus research on the causes and potential treatment of Krabbe's Disease and other Leukodystrophies. Research in these areas will also help to find new treatments for children with Multiple Sclerosis, stroke, and other diseases in which there is white matter destruction of the brain.

Bioinformatics is an emerging science field that uses high-performance computing to analyze biological data, and is seen as a major platform for drug discovery and modeling and other biotech research efforts in the 21st century. This emerging science field also has tremendous economic potential. The Buffalo Center is one of five Centers of Excellence statewide focusing on critical emerging high-tech fields, including the Albany Center of Excellence in Nanoelectronics, the Greater Rochester Center of Excellence in Photonics, the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental Systems and the Long Island Center of Excellence in Wireless Internet and Information Technology. To date, the five Centers have attracted $3.1 billion in private sector investment in partnership with $900 million state assistance.

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Last Updated: June 2, 2006 13:06 EDT