Biden administration designates 10 ‘biotech hubs’ across US

The Biden administration announced this week the creation of 10 biotech hubs across the US under its Tech Hubs program, with each hub eligible to apply for up to $75 million to invest in areas like research and development and job creation.

The hubs are spread across the US, primarily in rural areas, and are part of a $500 million investment from the Biden administration that’s intended to boost the tech industry’s growth beyond the coasts.

“For too long, economic growth and opportunity has clustered in a few cities on the coasts,” according to the White House. “The Tech Hubs will bring the benefits and opportunities of scientific and technological innovation to communities across the country, with nearly three-quarters significantly benefitting small and rural areas and more than three-quarters directly supporting historically underserved communities.”

The biotech hubs are split into two categories of drugs and devices and precision medicine. The hubs in the drugs and devices category are focused on research and development of innovative drugs and devices, as well as increasing domestic production of both, according to the White House.

The precision medicine hubs are focused on creating personalized medications to “improve health outcomes and increase longevity with drugs, devices, and therapies that are closely tailored to each person’s unique genome, environment, and history,” the White House said in a statement.

The biotech hubs will serve the following areas: Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Puerto Rico, New Hampshire, Virginia, and Alabama.

Each is led by a company with a unique goal.

For example, the Southern Research Institute, a nonprofit using artificial intelligence to increase diversity in clinical trials, leads the Alabama hub, and Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust, a nonprofit looking to fast-track biotech and medical device product discovery and development, leads the Puerto Rico hub.

According to the White House, the hubs will be successful if they create “good jobs,” encourage innovative businesses to grow, test and deploy new tech, and strengthen community economic resilience.

“President Biden’s Tech Hubs program will catalyze technological advances in communities across America, laying the foundations for future centers of world-class innovation, manufacturing, and good-paying jobs,” Lael Brainard, director of the National Economic Council, said in a statement.