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With a $100 million gift from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, the University of Pittsburgh will establish a massive bioresearch center near downtown Pittsburgh, the two organizations announced in a press release Wednesday.
The grant—the largest single-project gift in the foundation’s history—will be used to create the University of Pittsburgh BioForge, a highly specialized biomanufacturing facility that will advance new cell and gene therapies, as well as provide researchers and commercial partners with high-tech manufacturing capabilities, a wet lab and incubation space. The Pitt BioForge is currently slated to cover more than 200,000 square feet on Hazelwood Green, a former industrial site that’s being turned into a center for high-tech innovation.
With additional funding of its own and from industry partners, Pitt aims to make the BioForge the centerpiece of the region’s life sciences corridor, attracting investors and innovators from all over the world.
“The Richard King Mellon Foundation’s gift is nothing short of transformative,” said University of Pittsburgh chancellor Patrick Gallagher. “I am grateful for this support and confident that we’ll succeed—together—in strengthening Southwestern Pennsylvania’s role as a leading life sciences destination.”
