In 2023, the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia is embarking on the fifth year of the Cell & Gene Therapy Initiative (the Initiative), a project launched in 2019 with 11 partner organizations – including academic institutions, businesses, and civic organizations – to build awareness of Greater Philadelphia’s leading cell and gene therapy hub, and attract more companies, talent, and investment to the region. Here, we highlight some of the work that has been done and share how you can join in the momentum in the coming year.

The start of the Initiative coincided with […]

Select Greater Philadelphia partnered with two leading trade publications this month – Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN) and Fierce Biotech – to share news about Greater Philadelphia’s life sciences ecosystem and talent pool. The GEN article, published in the December 2022 issue, features testimonials from Integral Molecular, Iovance Biotherapeutics, Spark Therapeutics, and The Wistar Institute. The Fierce Biotech whitepaper, released on December 12, 2022, focuses on scaling life sciences operations. These two sponsored profiles share the region’s life sciences story with a global audience.

The GEN

A collaboration in Greater Philadelphia’s life sciences ecosystem has created an award-winning workforce training model. The Biomedical Technician Training Program: Aseptic Manufacturing, envisioned by The Wistar Institute, West Philadelphia Skills Initiative, Iovance Biotherapeutics, PIDC, the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, and Philadelphia Works, and launched in August 2022, has been honored by BioBuzz Media with its Workforce Champion of the Year Award. 

The annual awards program celebrates the important contributions that people, companies, and communities across the Greater Philadelphia, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C. areas are making to help build […]

Talent looking to join Greater Philadelphia’s cell and gene therapy hub can hear firsthand from those living and working here about the industry’s opportunities and the region’s quality of life. So far, 12 talent ambassadors have shared their stories as part of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia’s “Discovery Starts with Me” series.

For this month’s “Discovery Starts with Me” story, we spoke with Jazmean Williams, Research Associate II at Integral Molecular. Since its founding in 2001, Integral Molecular, a biotechnology company that leads in developing membrane protein solutions, […]

Greater Philadelphia was well represented at the Cell & Gene Meeting on the Mesa, held October 11-13, 2022, in Carlsbad, California, and organized by the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine. The hybrid conference featured presentations by leading public and private companies highlighting technical and clinical achievements over the past year in cell therapy, gene therapy, tissue engineering, and broader regenerative medicine technologies.

More than 2,100 attendees participated in the annual conference, which gathers senior executives and top decision-makers to advance cutting-edge research into cures. Among the Greater Philadelphia companies that participated were AmeriSourceBergen, Cabaletta Bio, Carisma Therapeutics, Center […]

On October 11, 2022, Wilmington, Delaware-based ChristianaCare announced it had spun out its first commercial biotechnology private startup company, CorriXR Therapeutics. The startup will use CRISPR gene editing technology to develop new, clinically relevant oncologic therapeutics in areas of unmet medical need, starting with squamous cell carcinoma of the lung.

CorriXR Therapeutics’ close relationship with ChristianaCare and the ChristianaCare Gene Editing Institute uniquely positions the new company to research and develop innovative, patient-centered therapies, the nonprofit health system said in its release. CorriXR Therapeutics will license technology from the Gene Editing Institute and work closely with its […]

Greater Philadelphia’s life sciences ecosystem was recognized with the #5 spot in JLL’s 2022 Life Sciences Research Outlook & Cluster Rankings. The new ranking reflects a rise from the #9 spot in 2021. JLL evaluated geographic clusters on talent (35% weight), funding (30% weight), and commercial real estate (35% weight). Among the highlights was JLL’s recognition of Philadelphia as “home to a deep and growing pool of talent coming from the region’s strong universities.” The report also recognized Philadelphia as a leader in the cell and gene therapy sector.

“We are thrilled to see Philadelphia grow from […]

Talent looking to join Greater Philadelphia’s cell and gene therapy hub can hear firsthand from those living and working here about the industry’s opportunities and the region’s quality of life. So far, 11 talent ambassadors have shared their stories as part of the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia’s “Discovery Starts with Me” series.

For the latest installment of our Discovery Starts with Me series, we sat down with Raechel Manrodt, Manufacturing Lead (Director) at Imvax. A clinical-stage biotechnology company, Imvax is leveraging its unique immunotherapy platform to develop a pipeline of personalized, whole tumor-derived treatments targeting […]

Our region’s life sciences ecosystem has three new assets we can all use to amplify the discovery, talent, and momentum in Greater Philadelphia. The first is a study by Econsult ranking Greater Philadelphia #2 in cell and gene therapy compared with 14 U.S. cell and gene therapy clusters. You can read about the research and link to the report here; it was recently featured in the trade publication Cell & Gene. The second is JLL’s  2022 Life Sciences Research Outlook & Cluster Rankings, in […]