Depending upon your perspective, this is either a tragedy for Wisconsin’s economy or a triumph for the state’s investment community and a testament to the talents of its people.
In the end, it may be all of those things at once, as contradictory as that may sound.
ZyStor Therapeutics Inc., a Wauwatosa biotechnology company, was acquired Tuesday by a California firm for $22 million, and its Wisconsin laboratory will be closed by the end of the year, eliminating seven jobs.
Novato, Calif.-based BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. announced it has acquired ZyStor. In addition to the $22 million, BioMarin may pay up to an additional $93 million if certain development, regulatory and commercial milestones are achieved.
ZyStor is a privately held company based in the Milwaukee County Research Park, where it developed a new drug that may prove to be an effective treatment for people who have Pompe disease.
Pompe disease, a lysosomal storage disorder, is a progressive degenerative disease of the heart muscle, diaphragm and skeletal muscle. It is caused by a deficiency in the lysosomal enzyme acid alpha glucosidase, which leads to the accumulation of glycogen in myocyte lysosomes and results in cell death.
With the acquisition of ZyStor, BioMarin Pharmaceutical has the resources needed to take this exciting new drug to the next step closer to going to market and gain approval from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, according to Jonathan LeBowitz, the chief scientific officer and executive vice president of Zystor who invented the drug.
LeBowitz, along with Zystor chief executive officer Loren Peterson and another scientist, moved up to Wauwatosa from St. Louis, Mo., in 2005, when they received venture capital from Wisconsin investors. The lead investors were Venture Investors of Madison and Mason Wells in Milwaukee.
Those investors will now get their payoff from BioMarin.
On one hand, it could be viewed a tragedy that a potentially life-saving drug was developed and financed in Wauwatosa by a seven-member team that included four Wisconsin people, but the work will now be performed in California.
However, LeBowitz has a different perspective. He says ZyStor’s story is a testament to Wisconsin’s business climate and its people.
He noted that the Milwaukee County Research Park’s close proximity to the Wisconsin Medical College and Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital created a perfect biotech exploratory environment for ZyStor.
“I like Milwaukee very much. I’ve really enjoyed being here. I’m a scientist. I think one of our concerns when we relocated to Milwaukee was whether we could identity and attract good technical people in Milwaukee. We looked at Madison too. The answer is we’ve been very successful in attracting good people here in Milwaukee. Word gets around on these things, and this is good for Milwaukee,” LeBowitz said. “This is a good thing. This drug we’ve labored over for several years is going to get into patients. I think it’s a great success story for Milwaukee.”
The only down side is that the payoff for the region does not include what it needs the most: more jobs.
Steve Jagler is executive editor of BizTimes Milwaukee.
