What were the main highlights for the PABC in 2023?

2023 was a difficult economic year for biotech, especially considering the VC environment, the Silicon Valley Bank situation, and the stock markets. I am proud that the PABC and B+labs ecosystem and services we provide remain attractive to companies, and we were able to stay at full capacity throughout the year. We rolled out PABC's Academic Innovation Zone (AIZ) grant with US$5 million in state funding, enabling us to award companies either free lab space, the hiring of staff from C suite down to scientist assistants, IP expenses, or business expenses.

We are also proud to have spun out five companies into our incubator from the Blumberg Institute. We do not kick companies out as we are building a know-how network where starter companies can connect and collaborate with experienced companies. On any given day, there are approximately 60 students at the PABC. How does PABC help companies succeed beyond the incubator stage?

We aim to build a diverse ecosystem with companies that will collaborate. I have had the question of why is there an established, revenue-generating company such as Serologix in an incubator; the answer is, that it is about creating an ecosystem. Beyond the incubator stage, we can help companies grow their presence and relationships in the industry, and using our network we can connect them with hospital systems, for example. On the other hand, if there is an early-stage company in the incubator that needs help with a clinical trial in the serologic sweet spot for instance, we have an established company, Serologix, on-site with which they can collaborate. The benefit of being in our incubator is that we nurture companies. We want scientists to focus on science, and we offer them the equipment and services so they can do that. Companies are vetted on 22 data points before selection - of which the most important are the science, the team, and their funding mechanisms.

It is important to mention that any success in our incubators, the revenue all goes back to the Hepatitis B Foundation. We currently have a CRISPR company from San Francisco in our incubator that has opened the eyes of our Blumberg Institute scientists, and they are extremely excited about working with this new cell and gene therapy CRISPR technology and putting it towards hepatitis B research. At B+labs, 75% of the companies are working in cell and gene therapy. In terms of public policy, what are PABC’s main priorities in 2024?

Hepatitis B public policy is getting the government behind in trying to find a cure as soon as possible. We are always looking at what we can do at the federal, state, and local levels to raise awareness and to raise funding. We also monitor how government policy can affect research. We are working with our local officials, legislators, and Congressional representatives to ensure that they are aware of the impact of the policies. How important is Pennsylvania going to continue to be as a leading biotech hub in the US?

The potential in the area is tremendous. Unique to this market is that it is a place where you can start in an incubator. In B+labs, you can move up a floor to graduate, and then you can go right across the street to commercialize – all are within a couple of blocks radius in Philadelphia’s University City. Governor Shapiro listed Life Sciences as one of his top five priorities, and the investment the state is willing to make into the industry will be a huge factor in the success of Pennsylvania moving forward. Pennsylvania is in the top six in NIH funding and patents, but we are near the bottom on the commercialization side. We at the PABC can help the state overcome this disconnect by bolstering that step from scientific research to getting products to market. What are PABC’s key priorities for 2024?

PABC hopes to have another three to five incubators in our model that can benefit the clusters we go into. We are also excited about rolling out AI in our incubators to further best support our companies.