HCN News & Notes

Massachusetts to Partner in Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Institute

BOSTON — Massachusetts will be a partner in the nation’s first manufacturing innovation institute in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. The biopharmaceutical manufacturing innovation institute is the sixth Manufacturing USA project secured under the Baker-Polito administration.

The $250 million biopharmaceutical innovation institute is a national public-private partnership, awarded through Manufacturing USA, a federally authorized network of manufacturing innovation institutes. Federal matching funds for the manufacturing innovation institute will be provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology. The University of Delaware convened this Manufacturing USA team.

Massachusetts will anchor the northeastern node for the biopharmaceutical manufacturing project, which will be known as the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL). The NIIMBL project will be led regionally by a consortium of small, medium, and large biopharmaceutical industry partners from across the supply chain, along with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Quincy College, UMass Lowell, UMass Medical School, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

The Commonwealth is supporting NIIMBL’s collaborative research and development and workforce-training efforts through a five-year, $20 million commitment from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. The Commonwealth’s matching contribution leverages $70 million in federal funds, awarded to the national project, and additional matching funds from private sector participants.

“Massachusetts leads the nation in the development and deployment of advanced manufacturing technologies, and this new biopharmaceutical manufacturing innovation institute will ensure that our globally competitive life-sciences cluster continues to deliver cutting-edge therapies, while providing quality manufacturing jobs to the citizens of Massachusetts,” said Gov. Charlie Baker. “NIIMBL continues our administration’s substantial investment in public-private research partnerships that open new, advanced manufacturing pathways for workers across Massachusetts. We look forward to collaborating with our partners in the federal government, academia, and the private sector as we continue to build a foundation for dynamic economic growth.”