Michael Mewhinney June 21, 2005
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Phone: 650/604-3937, 650/604-9000
E-mail: Michael.Mewhinney@nasa.gov

NEWS RELEASE: 05-37AR

MEDIA ADVISORY: News media are invited to a question and answer
opportunity at the conclusion of the workshop, tomorrow, Wednesday,
June 22, from 3 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. PDT, in the Great America Room at
the Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001 Great America Parkway, Santa
Clara, Calif. A small panel comprised of Alan Marty, Lynn Harper,
Dr. Cheryl Nickerson and others will discuss preliminary results of
the workshop and answer media questions. News media unable to attend
in person may call in 408/748-7103.

NASA, ENTREPRENEURS TO DEVELOP BIOTECHNOLOGY PLAN FOR SPACE STATION

NASA scientists and space service providers are meeting on June 21
and June 22 to develop a new entrepreneurial paradigm for the
International Space Station (ISS) focusing on biotechnology
applications.

The workshop is being held at the Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001
Great America Parkway, Santa Clara, Calif. Seminar participants will
help evaluate the business case and feasibility for commercial
endeavors on the ISS and report their findings and conclusions in
open session. A formal report will be presented to the NASA
Administrator by mid-July 2005.

"NASA will reach out to the private sector and look for ways to
collaborate," said NASA Administrator Mike Griffin. "I hope this
workshop is successful."

"Until recently, the business case for commercial endeavors on the
International Space Station was not compelling," said G. Scott
Hubbard, director of NASA Ames Research Center. "But recent
information shows that the space environment and the International
Space Station may offer an important, and as yet undeveloped, new
intellectual property arena for biotech. Emerging launch industries,
advances in biotech, improvements in automation, and innovative
concepts for returning samples from space offer new opportunities to
solve the throughput problem that has been the major impediment to
space biotech development," he added.

"I'm intrigued by the commercial applications that could potentially
be developed on board the International Space Station," said Alan
Marty, executive-in-residence at the venture capital arm of JP Morgan
Partners, a private equity affiliate of J.P. Morgan Chase + Co., and
one of the workshop participants. "I'm looking forward to hearing the
case discussed at the workshop by those who have conducted
biotech-related research in space and have launch and other space
services to offer paying customers. It will be interesting to see
whether the space community can develop a customer-centric space
station with the
type of services that will attract paying customers. Like others in
the venture capitalist community, I am skeptical, interested and open
to being convinced."

"There is compelling evidence that the unique environment of
spaceflight provides important insight into a variety of fundamental
human health issues with tremendous potential for the commercial
development of novel enabling technologies to enhance human health
here on Earth," said Dr. Cheryl Nickerson, Associate Professor of
Microbiology and Immunology at Tulane University's Health Sciences
Center. "I am excited with the potential of the ISS platform to
contribute to these important health-related issues."

The history of space biosciences contains numerous examples of
medically important and commercially lucrative products that have
resulted from space research and development, which now generate more
than $1 billion annually.

"This workshop is intended to bring together all of the parties that
can inform a decision and direction on the future use of the
International Space Station for biotech," said Lynn Harper,
scientific lead for integrative studies at NASA Ames Research
Center's Astrobiology and Space Research Directorate. "Speakers will
present the case for biotech, concepts on how to solve the throughput
problem, address the credibility gaps and specify conditions that
must be met in order to interest venture capitalists and the biotech
industries in International Space Station biotech research and
development."

For information about the New Entrepreneurial Paradigm for the
International Space Station workshop, visit:

http://issworkshop.arc.nasa.gov

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Internet, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

-end-

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