This article was originally published by our sister publication the Boston Business Journal.
A powerful consortium of some of the world’s most recognized names in higher education, health care, real estate and life sciences is collaborating to create a center for advanced biological innovation and manufacturing.
The $50 million first-of-its-kind center, which will be set up as an independent nonprofit, will explore regenerative therapies in a cross-sector environment that aims to shorten the gap between research, biomanufacturing and clinical application.
Often, a funded biotech startup will cultivate an idea, but have to wait up to 18 months or longer to manufacture a product. The as-yet-unnamed center aims to cut the backlog and bottleneck by providing manufacturing space at “favorable pricing,” with “pharma-grade” GMP manufacturing cleanrooms, according to a press release. The center will also provide a platform for workforce development and training.
Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, GE Healthcare Life Sciences, and Alexandria Real Estate Equities will comprise the center’s board of directors.
“The broad question that we were trying to address was, ‘How can we best position our region to be preeminent in the life sciences in the decades to come?’” Harvard Provost Alan M. Garber, who helped conceive of the project some two years ago, said in a statement. “We have a vibrant life sciences community, with some of the world’s greatest hospitals, universities, and life sciences companies of all kinds. We also have a strong financial sector that helps to spawn and support new companies. So the elements for rapid progress in the life sciences—particularly in the application of the life sciences to human health—are all here. But with such a rapid pace of innovation, it’s easy to fall behind. We wanted to make sure that would not happen here.”
Other contributing members of the center include Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, MilliporeSigma, and state government officials.
The facility does not yet have a home. Leaders from the consortium are exploring existing locations in Cambridge, Boston and Watertown to locate the center, which they expect to span between 30,000 and 40,000 square feet.
“Never before have we had so many breakthroughs available in the clinic. However, it can take up to 30 days, ‘needle to needle,’ to deliver a CAR-T therapy to a patient, and that does not take into account any of the bottlenecks in the supply chain that could occur along the way,” said Udit Batra, CEO of MilliporeSigma, in a statement. “It is our collective responsibility to eliminate any barriers to making these life-saving medicines accessible to patients everywhere.”
