Three major partners have joined
UPMC in the pursuit of a vaccine development and production facility in the region that would assist the nation in its response to bioterrorists attacks and threats.
Battelle,
IBM and
Merck & Co. have announced they will join the
21st Century Biodefense (21CB) initiative with UPMC and
GE healthcare. UPMC hopes to operate the first-of-its-kind factory in a unique partnership with the federal government.
"With this powerful coalition of partners, we will finally address a critical gap in the nation's defenses against bioterrorism and infectious diseases," said Robert Cindrich, chief legal counsel and chairman of the initiative. "Through this collaboration, we are poised to deliver the urgently needed advances in vaccine development and manufacturing as recently called for by President Obama in his State of the Union address."
Battelle will provide comprehensive pre-clinical research and development services, including infectious disease model development and product safety and efficacy evaluations. IBM will offer innovative information technology systems.
Merck will contribute drug-development and bioprocess counsel as part of a planned consortium of other biopharmaceutical companies. Among the sites being considered is the old Pittsburgh International Airport.
UPMC and its partners plan to compete for the funding to build the vaccine factory. The initiative could create 1,000 jobs directly and 6,000 indirectly, drawing on a national pool of scientists and engineers.
Source: Robert Cindrich and Wendy Zellner, UPMC
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