St. Joseph's animal health field expanded by one Friday with the addition of Arizona-based IMULAN BioTherapeutics.

IMULAN will be the first tenant leasing space at Missouri Western State University's Science and Technology Incubator. IMULAN's consultant Tom Overbay said during a news conference at the incubator Friday that the company chose St. Joseph as a base because of its resources.

Buchanan County commissioners Royal Turner and Dan Hausman were on-hand to announce 500,000 of those resources. The county will pitch in $500,000 in economic development funds over five years. The economic development incentive package requires that IMULAN upon completion of its fifth year of operation should have a minimum employment of 31 workers with an average wage of $74,000. IMULAN is also required to keep its base in St. Joseph should they outgrow or leave the incubator.

If IMULAN is successful and lives up to the milestones established, $300,000 of the county funds will be considered forgivable loans. The remaining $200,000 will be no-interest loans paid back within 10 years.

The start-up company, which is currently comprised of stakeholders, specializes in development of immune-regulating compounds for veterinary medicine that are environmentally and biologically friendly, Mr. Overbay said. IMULAN is projected to have its lab up and running by mid-2009. Mr. Overbay couldn't specify how many employees would be working initially in St. Joseph.

Dr. Gary Clapp, president and CEO of the Institute of Industrial and Applied Life Sciences, said the company will also receive a state grant to help pay for modification of their facility in the incubator.