Case Study:Industry Innovation Hub
GOAL:
The New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII) wanted to create a hub for innovative activity in New Jersey that aligned with the state’s largest and most productive industrial cluster – biopharmaceuticals. The biopharma innovation hub envisioned would provide a catalyst for industry, research universities, and the government in advancing a collaborative suite of solutions.
CHALLENGE:
The challenges in establishing a biopharmaceutical innovation hub began with overcoming New Jersey’s history of competitive relationships to advance a new shared strategic asset. There was a need to obtain stakeholder buy-in, raise financing for missing requirements/assets, secure the backing of the biopharmaceutical industry, and identify a leading-edge concept and scientific leader for the development of the hub. Eventually, it meant building a Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) facility with a sustainable business model.
SOLUTION:
The New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII) and Rutgers University decided to pursue a federal Manufacturing USA request for proposal in partnership with key members of the NJII board who represented New Jersey research universities, biopharma industry leaders and associations, and state government. Although the NJII-led team did not receive the grant award, the partner engagement generated by the year-long proposal development process surfaced a key gap in the biopharma innovation ecosystem, cell and gene therapy.
Biopharma leaders from very large and emerging companies expressed interest in a facility which could provide support for process development, technology development, and workforce development in the emerging cell and gene therapy field. NJII leaders identified a serial entrepreneur in the biopharma sector to join the Manufacturing USA grant writing team. Subsequently, this entrepreneur’s talents, with strong NJII leadership team support, emerged to carry the cell and gene therapy facility concept to reality.
OUTCOMES AND IMPACTS:
Subsequently named “Biocentriq,” the cell and gene therapy development and manufacturing center has become a focal point for small and large companies to advance therapies in this emerging field. The facility has become a watering hole for enhanced interactions between large and small companies sharing the cell and gene therapy innovation supply chain. Biocentriq offers pay-as-you-go services to companies. In turn, from the large players to start ups in this field, the companies benefit from not having to invest in capital expenditures to pursue novel products. Services offered include process development, technology development, and workforce development, helping the biopharma industry move toward a future of personalized medicine. As the only cell and gene therapy process and manufacturing development center located on a university campus (New Jersey Institute of Technology), Biocentriq has the added benefit of offering students the opportunity to learn first-hand about cell
and gene therapy manufacturing as well as to work on projects with industry partners. NJIT has worked with NJII to create a professional science master’s degree program in cell and gene therapy, thereby contributing to the rapidly expanding workforce pipeline and advancing NJIT’s standing in a fast-developing area of research.
