Purdue News

Cook Biotech expands, breaks ground at Purdue Research Park Wednesday Journalists are invited 2 p.m. Wednesday (5/ 7) to a groundbreaking for the expansion of one of Indiana’s leading biotechnology companies – Cook Biotech Inc. – in the Purdue Research Park, 3055 Kent Ave., West Lafayette, Ind. Based on Purdue discoveries, Cook Biotech is one of only a few companies to successfully bring to market products in the emerging field of tissue engineering. The company has received nine FDA clearances for medical products currently being used to help patients undergoing wound care, burn management, hernia repair, urological procedures and general surgery. The groundbreaking has numerous angles: • Biotechnology is one of the focuses of Indiana’s plans for economic development. Cook’s expansion strengthens that base, making Indiana more attractive to other companies and investors in the biotech field. • The expansion, a new 55,000-square-foot building, will mean more than 100 new, high-tech jobs for Indiana. • This is the first time a company based on a Purdue discovery has expanded in the Purdue Research Park, which, with 104 companies and 38 buildings, is the largest research park in the state. • The Purdue Research Park soon is expected to become Indiana’s first Certified Technology Park, a designation that is the state’s newest economic development tool for promoting high-technology industries. Because of the designation, certain income taxes and sales taxes generated because of the new jobs that are created there will be distributed to the West Lafayette Redevelopment Commission. The commission then will reinvest that money into the park for improvements, operation and maintenance of facilities, payment of interest and principal on bonds and other business generating activities. Cook’s expansion and the high-tech jobs it produces will be the first to generate that revenue stream. • The expansion recognizes a strengthened partnership among Purdue, the Park and Cook. Cook Biotech was founded in 1995 with shared ownership by Cook Group, PRF and Methodist Hospital/Clarian. Privately held COOK® Group’s international headquarters are in Bloomington, Ind. COOK® is a leading designer, manufacturer and global distributor of minimally invasive medical device technology for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Photographs and video b-roll will be available before and after the event. Audio will be distributed by e-mail with a news release directly after the event. The news release, audio and photographs also will be available immediately after the event at the Purdue News Service Web site: https://news.uns.purdue.edu. For assistance or interviews before the groundbreaking, please contact Jeanne Norberg, Director, Purdue News Service, (765) 494-2096, jnorberg@purdue.edu.