Maker of "Botox" alternative to expand in University Research Park

Madison, Wis. - University Research Park has announced that Mentor Corp., a California-based medical products company that produces a version of the botulinum toxin used in non-surgical cosmetic procedures, will expand its presence in Madison with the construction of a 37,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in the park.

Construction of Mentor's facility began this week and is expected to be completed during the summer of 2008. Mentor will employ approximately 40 people at the expanded site when it becomes fully operational.

The Mentor facility, which is subject to regulatory approvals, will produce the company's botulinum toxin product for use in cosmetic wrinkle correction, the most-often performed non-surgical cosmetic procedures in the United States. More than four million of the procedures were performed in 2006, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

In 2003, Mentor obtained an exclusive license from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation to botulinum toxin technology developed at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The company established an initial manufacturing facility in the park after obtaining the WARF license, and has collaborated with UW researchers since then.

The university's Food Research Institute has conducted botulinum toxin research for more than 30 years. Related stories

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