Two Philly-Area Groups Vie For New Federal Regional Tech Hub Designation

Under the CHIPS and Science Act, the U.S. Commerce Department will award 20 or more winning regions $50 million to $75 million to create globally competitive industry clusters.

Two Philly-area groups focused on biotechnology and precision medicine want to win a new federal designation as regional tech and innovation hubs under a U.S. Department of Commerce program that aims to boost the country’s global competitiveness.

The feds plan to name at least 20 regions as tech hubs that will be eligible for $50 million to $75 million in funding to advance industries such as biotechnology, semiconductors, robotics, and artificial intelligence. The awards are supposed to go to regions capable of becoming global centers for R&D, workforce development, commercialization, and manufacturing in a decade.

Here’s an overview of the two Philadelphia-area corsortia that completed the first stage of the application process by the Tuesday deadline:

The Delaware Valley Biopharmaceutical Hub for Enterprises, Local Innovation, Commercialization, and Security, led by the University of Delaware, is focused on accelerating biopharmaceutical innovation and manufacturing in the region. The university in Newark is home to the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals, which last year received an $8 million federal grant to advance its work.

A group led by Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania also includes the University of Delaware, but has a broader approach, said Anthony P. Green, Ben Franklin’s chief scientific officer. “We are focused on what we’re calling an expanded version of precision medicine,” Green said in an interview Wednesday.

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