TUE AM News: BioForward says tech hub initiatives ‘advancing swiftly’; Axio BioPharma announces drug development partnership

June 10, 2025

— Leaders of the Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub say three of the effort’s main initiatives are “advancing swiftly” as partners leverage state and federal dollars to boost the sector.

Lead partner BioForward yesterday announced projects are underway to drive workforce development in Madison and Milwaukee, bolster statewide networks for biotech startups, and further develop cancer care innovation in Waukesha through GE HealthCare.

The state’s tech hub effort has landed $49 million in federal funding and was provided $7.5 million in matching funds from the state under legislation Gov. Tony Evers signed into law last year.

Lisa Johnson, CEO of BioForward Wisconsin, says the progress being made wouldn’t have been possible without the state support as well as industry partners and higher education. In a statement yesterday, she called the tech hub initiative “a launchpad for advancing national and economic security for the United States through statewide collaboration, job creation, and industry leadership.”

As part of the workforce development initiative getting funding through the tech hub, Madison Area Technical College is leading a regional effort to expand credentialing in biological sciences and training opportunities. Mark Thomas, the college’s chief strategy officer, says the project aims to prepare students and professionals for jobs in the sector.

Under the same initiative, Milwaukee Area Technical College is moving forward with creating a new training facility for the tech hub’s infrastructure and workforce projects, through the ABC Pathways project. Other local groups including Employ Milwaukee are also offering career development and other help to youth and underrepresented groups.

Meanwhile, GE HealthCare is “scaling next-generation oncology care” at its site in Waukesha with support from the state matching funds, the release shows. Along with developing its engineering and product development footprint in Wisconsin, the health technology company says it’s also working with UW-Madison and Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin on new cancer care clinical tools.

Shannon Beach, the company’s senior director of global AI and clinical collaborations, highlights the promise of advancing diagnostics and therapies as well as personalized patient care.

“It’s an exciting step toward measurable patient impact,” she said.

See the release and get more information on tech hub projects here.

— Madison-based Axio BioPharma has announced a new partnership with a Missouri company called Likarda Inc. aimed at improving the drug development process.

Under the new effort, the companies will integrate Likarda’s drug delivery technology with Axio’s “biomanufacturing” protein production operations, according to the release. While Axio will use Likarda’s products for encapsulation and controlled release of medicine, its own manufacturing capabilities will be offered to Likarda’s clients.

Justin Byers, CEO of Axio BioPharma, says the move will help customers “move faster and make better decisions” by bringing the new technology into the development process.

“By aligning earlier on both delivery and manufacturing, we reduce friction, shorten timelines, and provide integrated solutions that truly support our clients’ goals,” he said in a statement.

Axio BioPharma’s clients include early-stage biotechnology startups as well as large pharmaceutical companies, and its contract manufacturing and development services are focused on therapeutics and research materials.

By incorporating AI into process analysis and improvement, the business aims to speed up the development cycle for its clients, according to Byers. It launched last year and was raising funding earlier this year as part of an effort to expand production capacity.

Financial details of the new partnership were not disclosed.

See more in the release and listen to a podcast from earlier this year with Buyers.

— Wisconsin’s Medicaid Director Bill Hanna says he’s actively talking with lawmakers and state officials about the potential impact of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” in Wisconsin.

“We’ve been having lots of conversations in Madison, especially with our colleagues in the fiscal bureau who collectively work on finalizing numbers for both the Legislature and the governor to come to some agreement on how much we need to set aside to run, to continue to run our well-run program here,” Hanna told WISN 12’s UpFront,” which is produced in partnership with WisPolitics.

Hanna estimates the bill as it’s currently written will impact roughly 63,000 Medicaid recipients in Wisconsin with new work requirements and cost the state $8 million to implement the changes in the first year.

“I think the read is that the department’s estimates are on par with the same way the Fiscal Bureau would read and interpret the implications on the House bill as it currently stands,” Hanna said. “It’s about 63,000 individuals that currently would not be meeting the work requirements with the data we have today

“We’re not predicting on how people would change their behavior because of the bill, but they are currently not meeting that 80-hour minimum requirement that’s included in the bill,” Hanna added. “They either need to meet the work requirements, send in additional paperwork to meet one of the long list of exemptions that are in the bill, or ultimately, if they do not meet the work requirements or do not meet the exemption requirements, they would become uninsured.”

Hanna said those individuals would also not be eligible to purchase insurance on the federal marketplace.

“The technical rule is that they had access to Medicaid,” Hanna said. “And if you have access to Medicaid but for the work requirements, you are not eligible for subsidies on the marketplace.”

Hanna said the state is also closely tracking the impact on FoodShare benefits in the state, which he said could place the burden on state taxpayers by hundreds of millions of dollars.

“That’s a much bigger cost shift,” he said.

See more from the show.

— Froedtert ThedaCare Health announced Lynn Detterman has been appointed president of the health system’s north region.

This area covers the Fox Valley and five nearby rural markets, along with Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, Manitowoc and Sheboygan.

Detterman joined the health system in 2020 and previously was senior vice president of ThedaCare’s south region. While at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Neenah, she oversaw the creation of a new obstetrical emergency department and hospitalist program. And the release notes she was “instrumental” in the formation of two new health campuses in Oshkosh and Fond du Lac.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to step into this new role where I can continue supporting our teams who are providing comprehensive and high-quality care for patients and families,” she said in a statement.

For more of the most relevant health care news, reports on groundbreaking research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics and WisBusiness.com.

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— State officials have announced $10.3 million in grants for workforce development groups in Wisconsin.

In a release yesterday, Gov. Tony Evers and the Department of Workforce Development rolled out the funding from the Worker Advancement Initiative for 10 regional groups in the state. The announcement notes funded projects are projected to impact more than 1,400 state residents find work or advance in their employment, as part of the second round of grants through the program.

The first round of WAI grants were meant to impact more than 2,300 residents, according to the release. The program was launched in 2021 and funded with Wisconsin’s allocation of federal relief dollars.

Individual grants in this round of funding ranged from about $610,000 for the Southeastern Wisconsin Workforce Development Board to just under $2 million for Employ Milwaukee. Funded projects include training programs in supply chain logistics, retail banking, health care, truckdriving, welding and more.

See the release.

— The New North has launched an awareness campaign alongside educational institutions in the state’s northeastern region.

The economic development group recently announced the “Growing Roots, Finding Wings” campaign during the New North Summit in Green Bay. It features videos with the group’s board members, alumni from the 10 institutions and other “key leaders” in the region, as well as website landing pages, blog posts and other content.

The campaign will be promoted through paid digital ads with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp., social media, employee newsletters and national marketing group Livability Media.

Barb LaMue, president and CEO of the New North, references the current “uncertainty about the value of a college education,” pointing to concerns about the return on investment given the cost of getting a degree. In a statement on the effort, she said the campaign aims to highlight why higher education is worth pursuing.

“It’s been proven that those with a two- or four-year degree have better job prospects, more career advancement opportunities, higher lifetime earnings, valuable skills development, enhanced benefits and greater civic engagement,” she said.

Participating educational institutions include: the College of Menominee Nation, Fox Valley Technical College, Lakeland University, Lakeshore College, Lawrence University, Moraine Park Technical College, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College, St. Norbert College, UW Oshkosh and UW-Green Bay.

See the release.

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