$100M grant to Pitt will help fund biomanufacturing hub, increase life sciences impact in region

In a move designed to strengthen southwest Pennsylvania’s role in life sciences research, the University of Pittsburgh and Richard King Mellon Foundation last month announced a $100 million gift to help fund a bioresearch and development facility. The grant, which will be disbursed in $10 million increments over 10 years, will help build Pitt BioForge, a biomanufacturing facility that will leverage biomedical research conducted at Pitt and bring “an entirely new commercial manufacturing sector to Pittsburgh and, if all goes according to plan, increase the economic opportunity for residents and families in and around Hazelwood,” according to a Pitt press release.

The BioForge facility will offer high-tech manufacturing capabilities, wet labs and incubation spaces to university research teams, commercial and research partners. The facility will be located at Hazelwood Green, a former industrial site near downtown Pittsburgh, and both the university and the foundation have committed to ensuring that employment opportunities and related economic activity make a positive impact in the neighborhood. The grant is the largest single-project grant in the foundation’s 74-year history.