12/19/2016
Boston Globe
By Robert Weisman
Massachusetts will be a partner in a new national biopharmaceutical manufacturing institute created to fund projects aimed at finding better ways to make biotech drugs.
The institute, called the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals, will be based at the University of Delaware. It was launched by Manufacturing USA, a public-private initiative, and is being financed with $250 million — including $70 million from the US Department of Commerce — along with money from drug makers and state governments.
Massachusetts, home to a cluster of biomanufacturing plants, will anchor the institute’s “northeastern node.” It will use $20 million committed over the next five years by the Baker administration to explore improving manufacturing procedures, especially for the small-batch production increasingly used to make specialized medicines that treat patients with rare genetic disorders. The state money will be eligible for matching federal grants.
“Biomanufacturing is a core part of our strategy,” said Travis McCready, president of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, which oversees the state’s life sciences initiative. “We must have the processes and standards to match the innovation that takes place in our labs. What’s the point of discovering all these specialized therapies if you can’t make them?”
McCready said the process of manufacturing gene therapies and other specialized treatments is far more complex than methods used to produce chemical-based pills. He likened it to the difference between building jumbo jets versus bicycles.
In addition to the state funding commitment, several Massachusetts biopharma companies are part of a roster of more than a dozen drug makers that will contribute money and work with the new institute. The institute has not disclosed their names.
A consortium of US colleges and universities also will take part in the biomanufacturing initiative — including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and Quincy College.