ElevateBio and the University of Pittsburgh announced a 30-year cell and gene therapy development partnership this week in which the biotech will bring one of its 'BaseCamps' to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The agreement will expand ElevateBio’s manufacturing sites to Pittsburgh, which according to the biotech will aid in “responding to the growing demand for industry-leading next-generation technologies, process development, and GMP manufacturing capabilities,” leveraging the University of Pittsburgh’s long-held position as a “research powerhouse,” and research funding relationship with the National Institutes of Health.
The relationship will be cushioned by a $100M grant to the University of Pittsburgh, provided by the Richard King Mellon Foundations to support biomanufacturing in Pittsburgh.
The new cGMP manufacturing site, called Pitt BioForge, will create more than 170 permanent full-time jobs, 900 temporary construction jobs, and 360 off-site jobs. Like other ElevateBio BaseCamps, the Pittsburgh facility will be fully equipped with gene editing technologies including induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) and cell, vector, and protein engineering capabilities.