MANHATTAN — Heat Biologics founder Jeff Wolf considers construction of a $650 million, 500-employee commercial vaccine production plant in Manhattan focused on quick reaction to natural or man-made biological threats to be a U.S. national security imperative.
He said the 500,000-square-foot Scorpion Biological Services facility in proximity to Kansas State University, the Biosecurity Research Institute, the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility and the U.S. Army at Fort Riley represented a significant expansion of biopharmaceutical operations under the umbrella of Heat Biologics.
Manhattan and Kansas State beat out the other prominent bidder for the commercial plant — Iowa City and the University of Iowa.
