Skip to content
i2E
  • Programs
    • For Startups
      • E3
      • Bridge2
      • OCN
    • For Students
      • Entrepreneur’s Cup
    • For Corporations
    • For Investors
  • Client Portfolio
  • About
    • Our Values
    • Meet Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Corporate Partners
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Programs
    • For Startups
      • E3
      • Bridge2
      • OCN
    • For Students
      • Entrepreneur’s Cup
    • For Corporations
    • For Investors
  • Client Portfolio
  • About
    • Our Values
    • Meet Our Team
    • Board of Directors
    • Corporate Partners
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Media
Search

New drug manufacturer to anchor $240 million OKC innovation district development

Get in Touch

[vc_row][vc_column][button size=”medium_rd_bt” url=”https://i2e.org/?na=view&id=31″]Back to Newsletter[/button][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

By Steve Lackmeyer
The Oklahoman

A start-up pharmaceutical manufacturer with a reported potential to employ thousands is set to anchor a $240 million mixed-use development being built next year at the gateway to Oklahoma City’s innovation district.

Wheeler Bio, founded by Oklahoma City investor Christian Kanady and scientist Dr. Jesse McCool, is set to start with up to 100 scientists working on three floors of Kanady’s Ziggurat building at 120 Robert S. Kerr Ave. The company is set to expand into up to half of a 400,000-square-foot manufacturing and office complex at NE 8 and Stiles Circle.

Construction is set to start at the Ziggurat building this summer; work will begin on the larger development at NE 8 and Stiles Circle in February. And while developers promise what is shown in their renderings is what they will deliver, timing of an innovation hall is in question.

OKC development:Deal closes for 577-acre property to be used to lure new industry to Oklahoma City

Wheeler Bio, a new pharmaceutical manufacturer, will anchor a 400,000 square foot office building, shown in this provided rendering, while a 110-room hotel will be built to right of the office building.

“We believe that Wheeler Bio in and of itself could represent a billion-dollar business that employs thousands of Oklahomans if done correctly,” Kanady said. “It’s pretty intriguing that the University of Oklahoma already has a pretty substantial chemical engineering program that could automatically feed into Wheeler Bio as its workforce.”

Oklahoma City has spent the half century transforming an area initially anchored by the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine into a 321-acre Oklahoma Health Center campus that is home to about two dozen medical, research and bio-tech organizations. A series of studies suggested merging the Oklahoma Health Center and nearby Automobile Alley into an “innovation district.”

Kanady, who last year invested in the launching of Prairie Surf Studios at the former Cox Convention Center, got his start in the energy industry working at Chesapeake Energy and then founding his own company, Echo Energy.

Oklahoma City’s future, he said, must go beyond the energy industry that helped make the city what it is today.

Read the entire story at The Oklahoman website (subscription required).[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

More News

Loading...
Blog, Featured, News
12.16.24

MidAmerica and i2E Announce Award Winners

Read more
Blog, Featured, News
11.21.24

i2E & Plains Ventures Surpasses $100M Milestone in Total Investments

Read more
Blog
09.30.24

i2E Receives 2024 Excellence in Economic Development Award from IEDC

Read more
Blog
06.18.24

Bridge2 Demo Day Returns, Highlighting Promising Oklahoma Startups

Read more
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup Featured, Entrepreneur's Cup News
05.13.24

Student Entrepreneurs Triumph at 20th Anniversary Entrepreneur’s Cup, Winning $158,000 in Prizes

Read more
Default Featured Image
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup News
04.24.24

Beyond the Cup: Tracking Success Stories from the Entrepreneur’s Cup Series – Jessica Kinsey

Read more
Default Featured Image
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup News
04.23.24

Beyond the Cup: Tracking Success Stories from the Entrepreneur’s Cup Series – Nathan Fountain

Read more
Default Featured Image
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup Featured, Entrepreneur's Cup News
04.23.24

Beyond the Cup: Tracking Success Stories from the Entrepreneur’s Cup Series – Srijita Ghosh

Read more
Default Featured Image
Blog, Entrepreneur's Cup Featured, Entrepreneur's Cup News
04.18.24

Beyond the Cup: Tracking Success Stories from the Entrepreneur’s Cup Series – MaxQ

Read more
Blog, i2E
01.30.24

i2E Celebrates Success of Inaugural Bridge2 Demo Day

Read more
Blog, i2E, News
12.18.23

i2E and MidAmerica Industrial Park announce award winners for high school entrepreneurship program

Read more
Blog, i2E
12.13.23

Entrepreneur’s Cup Marks 20 Years: Reimagined Competition and Brand – Same Entrepreneurial Spirit

Read more
i2E

Oklahoma City Office

201 Robert S Kerr Ave, Suite 600
Oklahoma City, OK 73102
+1 (405) 235.2305

Tulsa Office

12 N. Cheyenne Ave, Suite 112
Tulsa, OK 74103
+1 (918) 582.5592

  • Client Portfolio
  • About Us
  • Media
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Resources
  • Funding
  • Venture Advisory

© 2025 i2E Privacy Policy

Follow us:

Linkedin Twitter Facebook Instagram Youtube

Programs

  • For Startups
    • E3
    • Bridge2
    • OCN
  • For Students
    • Entrepreneur’s Cup
  • For Corporations
  • For Investors
  • For Startups
    • E3
    • Bridge2
    • OCN
  • For Students
    • Entrepreneur’s Cup
  • For Corporations
  • For Investors
  • Client Portfolio

Services

  • Access to Funding
  • Venture Advisory Services
  • Events
  • Contact
  • About
  • Our Values
  • Our Team
  • Board of Directors
  • Corporate Partners
  • Media
i2E