UPMC Outlines Vaccine Facility Ideas

U.S. Senator Arlen Specter and Congressman Jason Altmire pointed to the lack of a national center for vaccine production today, at a hearing in Pittsburgh’s federal courthouse. They hosted University of Pittsburgh Medical Center President Jeffrey Romoff and vaccination experts who spoke on the possibility of such a center.

Specter says UPMC’s proposal for such a facility to be built in southwestern Pennsylvania is innovative and would create 1000 permanent jobs, not including construction employment and related jobs also brought in by the facility. The UPMC pitch would incorporate General Electric as the manufacturing arm of the partnership and the University of Pittsburgh as the research branch, with UPMC overseeing the actual vaccine production facility. Romoff says UPMC would need to win a competitive bidding process before carrying out these plans.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the “21st Century Bio-Defense” center, or 21CB, would cost over $800 million, with UPMC throwing in as much as $250 million and the federal government providing the remainder. The facility would have eight separate suites that could quickly produce different vaccines in the event of an act of biological terrorism or an epidemic.

Senator Specter supported the UPMC proposal, saying that helping the nation’s welfare and gaining valuable jobs would be a dual victory for the city of Pittsburgh.