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New Jersey Legislators Work Together
to Strengthen Innovation in Our State
Sustaining and strengthening New Jersey's life sciences ecosystem requires innovative thinking and commitment to the sector that is the economic lifeblood of our State. We're blessed with State and Federal legislators who recognize the importance of taking steps today to maintain our prominence in the future.
Our Congressional and State delegations recently joined forces to support New Jersey's competitive bid with letters of support and funding to form an Innovative Medicines Manufacturing Institute (IMMI) under the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation (NNMI). The proposed Institute will operate as a public/private partnership uniting industry, academia and government to reinvent medicines manufacturing.
The good news is that New Jersey is a finalist in the competition, with results expected to be announced by year end. If the grant is approved, the New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII) at NJIT will serve as the host for IMMI. BioNJ is proud to serve as a Founding Member of IMMI, joining New Jersey Institute of Technology; Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey; Rowan University; the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust; the Puerto Rico Manufacturing Extension Partnership; the New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program; and the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey.
"This is an outstanding opportunity for New Jersey's life sciences ecosystem," said BioNJ President and CEO Debbie Hart. "We're appreciative of our legislators' support for this initiative, which required cooperation on all levels."
New Jersey's Proposed Innovative Medicines
Manufacturing Institute (IMMI)
The Innovative Medicines Manufacturing Institute (IMMI) will enable the integration, demonstration and broad-based implementation of advanced manufacturing technologies across three categories of medicines: traditional small molecule pharmaceuticals, as well as the newer (and fast-growing) sectors of large molecule/biologic and cell and gene-based biopharmaceuticals. While each category has its own specific challenges, from a manufacturing process perspective, there are significant areas of overlap and many opportunities for innovations in one category to accelerate progress in the others.
Drug discovery and development now encompasses molecular biology, genetics and genomics. "Biopharmaceuticals represent a sector with a tremendous impact on both individuals and the U.S. as a whole, said Dr. Donald Sebastian, NJII President & CEO and NJIT Sr. Vice President for Technology & Business Development. "The sector does remarkable good -- for our national and regional economies, for the millions of U.S. workers who help bring them to market and for every U.S. citizen enjoying a state of health unprecedented in history. Yet each of these benefits is at risk."
According to Sebastian, the biopharmaceutical sector must adapt to economic challenges, changing workforce needs, and developments in personalized medicine. The IMMI will help realize the goals of all three interconnected sectors by accelerating advances in fundamental knowledge and enabling technology. The initiative will develop unit operations to be applied across research indications, and deploy process engineering principles guided and motivated by the goals and challenges of the industry.
New Jersey Legislators Reach Across the Aisle to Support Proposal
The proposal has been supported by bipartisan commitment from New Jersey State and Federal legislators. Sen. Cory Booker (D) and Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11) circulated a letter of support that was co-signed by Sen. Robert Menendez (D), and these Members of Congress:
Bonnie Watson Coleman
(D-12); Leonard Lance (R-7); Frank LoBiondo (R-2); Tom MacArthur (R-3); Donald Norcross (D-1); Frank Pallone (D-6); Bill Pascrell (D-9); Donald Payne, Jr. (D-10) and Albio Sires (D-8).
Submission of the proposal could not have been completed without a commitment of $5 million in matching funds for the $75 million that New Jersey would receive if selected. New Jersey Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-36) and Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker (D-16) led the effort to place the funding in New Jersey's 2016 budget, and Gov. Chris Christie kept the funding in place when he signed the FY 2017 budget on June 30 of this year.
"The IMMI would secure New Jersey's position as the biopharmaceutical capital of the world, anchoring big pharma with the realization of research opportunities," said Sebastian. "Our selection would solidify our universities' tech transfer pathways, and would create a wonderful opportunity for emerging companies to gain access to the life sciences ecosystem."
BioNJ commends the New Jersey Congressional and State legislators who have supported the proposal for the Innovative Medicines Manufacturing Institute.
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For more information about BioNJ's Public Policy program, please contact Rebecca Perkins, Vice President, Government Affairs, at [email protected].
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