WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), alongside Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Reps. Don Beyer (D-VA-08), Ben Cline (R-VA-06), Gerry Connolly (D-VA-11), Morgan Griffith (R-VA-01), Jennifer Kiggans (R-VA-02), Jennifer McClellan (D-VA-04), Bobby Scott (D-VA-03), Abigail Spanberger (D-VA-07), Jennifer Wexton (D-VA-10), and Rob Wittman (R-VA-01), wrote to the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) to express their strong support for an implementation award for the Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (APM) Tech Hub. Following APM’s initial designation as a Tech Hub, Virginia legislators and private partners have proposed nearly $300 million for the effort, with the General Assembly already passing $106 million in state-level support. Building on this robust non-federal commitment, the Virginia delegation is now pushing for a Phase 2 implementation award from the EDA, which would secure tens of millions in additional federal funding for the project to create high-paying jobs, onshore manufacturing, and protect supply chains and national security.

“Leveraged with commitments from the Commonwealth and private consortium members totaling nearly $300 million, a Tech Hubs implementation award would provide integral, continued resources needed to ensure the APM Tech Hub’s progress and a resilient, quality drug supply for our nation,” the lawmakers wrote. 

In October 2023, the lawmakers announced that the APM Tech Hub was selected as one of 31 inaugural Tech Hubs that show potential for rapid growth in key technology sectors. Located in the Richmond-Petersburg region and led by the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM), the consortium aims to ensure that critical pharmaceuticals are manufactured in America by employing regional assets, scientific capabilities, and public and private investment to spur the growth, innovation, and sustainability of the U.S.-based pharmaceutical manufacturing industry. 

Currently, Americans rely on overseas manufacturing for many critical medications, creating serious national security, supply chain, and quality regulation concerns. The requested investments would build on those passed by the Virginia General Assembly, a Build Back Better Regional Challenge award, and other public and private investments to continue to grow this industry across the Richmond-Peterburg region, revitalizing the economy and creating jobs while ensuring that Americans don’t rely on foreign nations for life-saving medications.

“If funded, CCAM’s APM Tech Hub proposal will help harness federal, state, and private resources to accelerate APM in the Commonwealth of Virginia to create a sustainable, globally competitive manufacturing hub within a decade. We strongly support this critical project for Virginia and our national security and respectfully request you give this application full and fair consideration,” the lawmakers continued.

The Tech Hubs Program, made possible by the CHIPS and Science Act, aims to strengthen U.S. economic and national security by investing in regions across the country that have the assets, resources, and potential to become globally competitive innovation centers focused on the technologies and industries of the future. Final announcements for the implementation awards are expected in summer 2024, when the EDA will select between five and 10 Designated Tech Hubs to receive approximately $40-70 million each.

A copy of the letter is available here and below:

Dear Assistant Secretary Castillo:

As you consider applications for Phase 2 of the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Regional Technology and Innovation Hubs (Tech Hubs) program, we write in strong support of the Advanced Pharmaceutical Manufacturing (APM) Tech Hub proposal – located in the Richmond-Petersburg region of Virginia. Led by the Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing (CCAM), the APM Tech Hub proposal will ensure that essential pharmaceuticals are manufactured domestically by employing regional assets, scientific capabilities, and public and private investment to spur the growth, innovation, and sustainability of the U.S.-based pharmaceutical manufacturing industry.

The APM Tech Hub’s mission to address lifesaving and life-sustaining medicine access in the U.S. has been supported by recent federal investments, including a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) contract to manufacture a secure supply of quality active pharmaceutical ingredients and essential medicines for the nation, as well as an EDA Build Back Better Regional Challenge (BBBRC) award. Recently, the National Science Foundation also awarded members of the APM consortia a Regional Innovation Engine Development Award. Continued investment in manufacturing innovations and capabilities needed to re-shore pharmaceutical manufacturing, as outlined in the APM Tech Hub proposal, is necessary for the U.S. to maintain its position as a global leader in pharmaceuticals.

The APM Tech Hub application proposes seven component projects to invest in infrastructure, technology maturation, workforce development, and the strategy to realize sustainable Hub growth. These projects build on and complement prior investments in physical infrastructure necessary for advanced manufacturing by bolstering the Hub’s physical assets, while developing a strong pipeline for accelerated technology maturation to reach global leadership in the industry and an industry-led, competency-based workforce development program that is designed to be adaptive to ensure the workforce is prepared to operate at the leading edge of this industry. 

Requested investments are designed to build upon the strong footprint in historically distressed areas in the Richmond and Petersburg region established in the BBBRC application, where the growth of this cluster will continue to help revitalize the regional economy and bring numerous high-paying jobs in this emerging industry.

Leveraged with commitments from the Commonwealth and private consortium members totaling nearly $300 million, a Tech Hubs implementation award would provide integral, continued resources needed to ensure the APM Tech Hub’s progress and a resilient, quality drug supply for our nation. The Hub will benefit from two proposed investments from Virginia’s General Assembly, including:

1. $90 million for “Virginia’s Research Triangle” that will launch a biotechnology, life sciences, and pharmaceutical manufacturing network to foster collaboration among three of the Commonwealth’s major existing university research institutions, laying the groundwork for startup innovation and commercialization that will fuel the APM Tech Hub. The Accelerator Component Project has been designed in partnership with the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation, where funds have been committed to entrepreneurial and ecosystem development efforts in alignment with the proposed Research Triangle. 
2. $16 million for the Virginia Department of Health to establish a critical Opioid Overdose Reversal Agent Program, which aims to utilize the APM Tech Hub’s advanced pharmaceutical development and manufacturing campus in Petersburg.

Advanced manufacturing technologies reduce the time and cost of manufacturing, break down barriers to access to affordable health care, and lessen the environmental burden of this essential industry. Supported by federal and state investments, as well as a strong and growing coalition of partners, the APM Tech Hub proposal reimagines the manufacturing of medicines and is positioned to realize a sustainable, globally competitive APM Tech Hub within the coming decade that addresses urgent national security interests and critical unmet social needs.

If funded, CCAM’s APM Tech Hub proposal will help harness federal, state, and private resources to accelerate APM in the Commonwealth of Virginia to create a sustainable, globally competitive manufacturing hub within a decade. We strongly support this critical project for Virginia and our national security and respectfully request you give this application full and fair consideration.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to working with you to help carry out the Tech Hubs program and re-shore key industries in the U.S. 

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