MetaMorphix Inc., a Beltsville-based biotechnology company that plans to use genetic information about livestock to produce tender, juicy meat, has been awarded Scientific American magazine's 2005 Business Leader in Agriculture award.
The company, founded in 1994 by a Johns Hopkins School of Medicine scientist, has recently grown from an early-stage research and development biotechnology into commercial business, said President and Chief Executive Edwin Quattlebaum. Last month, it moved its headquarters from Howard County to Prince George's.
MetaMorphix President Edwin Quattlebaum says the county could become home to another biotechnology corridor similar to the one along I-270.
(James M Thresher -- The Washington Post)
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Two years ago, MetaMorphix acquired the livestock genotyping business of Rockville-based Celera Genomics, the private-company that sequenced the human genome. In addition to plans to use acquired livestock DNA technology to produce quality beef, MetaMorphix also has a contract with the American Kennel Club to genetically certify purebred dogs. In the health care sector, the company is developing treatments for muscular degenerative diseases, such as muscular dystrophy, based on a protein it discovered.
Quattlebaum spoke to Washington Post staff writer Krissah Williams last week about MetaMorphix's business strategy and why he decided to move the company to Beltsville.
Q: Which of MetaMorphix's technologies are making money or will be soon?
A: We are using genomic information to create tools that can be used to determine how an animal is going to perform, [and] we've signed an agreement with Cargill Inc., which is one of the largest cattle companies in the world. We agreed in May 2002 to spend $10 million to develop a [genetic] diagnostic for cattle. That project was completed a couple of months ago.
Basically, the way we're going to be using this tool is when an animal comes into the feed lot, they are going to take a drop of blood from that animal and give it to us, and then we are going to analyze the DNA in that blood sample and will be able to tell from the markers [whether that animal will produce] tender and juicy meat.
Not only do we have the ability to identify traits like tenderness, with just one drop of blood, we also can say whether an animal is a particular breed. We can say whether it is Black Angus, whether it's Holstein. If you go to a meat case today, you probably see certified Angus beef. We're going to offer the genetically certified Angus beef.
We also have identified a series of markers that can be used for identifying dog breeds. We have a Davis, Calif.-based business that is [already] generating revenue by doing genotyping for the American Kennel Club. Every so often the animal must be genotyped so that if they want to put the animal into a breeding program they are sure that the animal is what they think it is. We make sure that it is, in fact, that breed.
Why did you decide recently to move your company to Beltsville?
We were making the transition from a company that has been largely an early stage research and development company to a company that is more commercially focused as we get products into the market, and with that comes the need for adding staff. We were basically out of space for offices.
We were going to keep the [laboratory] facility in [Howard County] and just look for office space, [and] we were close to signing an agreement, but we saw this office park in Beltsville. [Deerfield, Ill.-based] Baxter Pharmaceuticals had planned to move its vaccine production operations to this office and build out the laboratory but then decided to move those operations to Austria. So the facility met our specifications, . . . and we moved quickly.
What about Beltsville made it a good location, given that there are not many biotechnology companies located there?
I've worked for a number of large companies, and one of the things I have learned running technical companies is that relocation is important. If you relocate much more than 25 miles from where you are [already located], you're going to lose tremendous amounts of people. We don't have that luxury. We have people whose skill sets are very unique.
We looked at the Columbia area [where our old lab was located], but a lot of people would say that the real corridor for biotech in this area is the Gaithersburg I-270 corridor. I believe that from a regional standpoint the I-270 corridor is expensive. It's getting very congested, and so we thought [Beltsville] would be good.
We believe that this area could, in the future, be a major [biotechnology] area. I think it's in the very early stages. We believe companies like our company, that are going from early stage to commercialization, will attract other biotech companies. If you get a successful biotech company in your area, you'll have other biotech companies. . . . You've got the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. You're close in to Washington. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration [in Rockville] is not that far. The University of Maryland is close by, and they really want to have a relationship with us. It's literally five or six miles down the road, [and] being able to use some of their equipment would really help us. We have the same kind of relationship with the USDA. I think that this is going to be a growth sector for the county. We are talking to the county about receiving tax breaks for locating here. They have said they are very eager to have us.
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