DEVELOPMENT

BioForge.

 
 

A $100 million gift from the Richard King Mellon Foundation to the University of Pittsburgh will support the creation of the University of Pittsburgh BioForge, a highly specialized biomanufacturing facility at Hazelwood Green. BioForge will help bring new cell and gene therapies and other novel treatments to patients and the marketplace, and will offer high-tech manufacturing capabilities, wet lab, and other innovation and incubation space.

Pitt BioForge is expected to turn the region's life sciences corridor into a global destination for investors and innovators, bringing together clinical, research and academic capabilities to offer ripe opportunities for both early-stage and established companies to advance medical progress.

Current plans for Pitt BioForge envision a facility of approximately 150,000 - 200,000 square feet, which will be equipped to perform the most advanced biomanufacturing processes and other innovative development, with the purpose of bringing every stage of the life sciences innovation process under one roof. Pitt research already underway and poised to relocate to BioForge includes gene and engineered cell therapy, microneedle and other novel therapeutics and delivery technologies, and the development of micro- and nano-antibodies.

“The Foundation is making a historic bet on Pittsburgh to lead nationally in the life sciences,” said Richard King Mellon Foundation Director Sam Reiman. “If COVID-19 taught us anything, it's that we need to discover and manufacture health care advances right here at home. And we are even more eager to lead in this sector because of its potential to generate family-sustaining job opportunities that are accessible to all our communities.

“Hazelwood Green is the ideal place to do this work. Coupled with our $75 million gift to Carnegie Mellon University for robotics and advanced manufacturing at Hazelwood Green — and thanks to the steadfast commitment of our Almono partners, the Heinz Endowments and the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation — this is one of the final puzzle pieces in our efforts to make Hazelwood Green truly different than other riverside developments. This project will help make our vision for Hazelwood Green come to life: a magnet for sustainable growth and an engine for prosperity for our partner communities.”