Delaware has seen a 65% increase in new biotechnology companies over the past decade, according to a recent report by the Delaware BioScience Association and the Delaware Prosperity Partnership. This growth is important to public health — and to Delaware’s economy, accounting for thousands of jobs in a broad range of fields ranging from biopharmaceutical research and testing to medical device and equipment innovation.

But are collaborations between industry and academia underway to keep fueling fresh innovations? And is the skilled workforce available to fill bioscience open positions at companies across the state, such as lab chemist, R&D scientist, molecular lab technician, and other technical roles? Such questions were on the agenda at Delaware’s DNA Life Sciences Conference held May 8, at the Chase Center on the Riverfront in Wilmington. 

The conference, hosted by the Delaware BioScience Association and sponsored in part by the University of Delaware, the National Institute for Innovation in Manufacturing Biopharmaceuticals (NIIMBL) and the Delaware Biotechnology Institute, brought together national biotech leaders, investors, startups and researchers to reflect on how far the vibrant life sciences ecosystem has come and to consider what lies on the horizon and where collaboration will be needed next.

Unpacking industry-academic partnership

UD’s Nicole Merli, director of University and industry relations, led a discussion with John Swartley, chief innovation officer at the University of Pennsylvania, about the value of university-industry partnerships in translating innovations and technology from the lab to society — a fitting topic during May, which is National Inventor’s Month. 

Swartley described the arduous road to bring CAR-T cell therapy, a pioneering cancer treatment developed at Penn, to fruition in the 2010s. While today the immunotherapy treatment for cancer is considered more common, this wasn’t always the case. Translating the technology from research scale to commercial scale was challenging, he said. The manufacturing infrastructure didn’t exist yet and industry partnerships were hard to come by. Successful commercialization of the life-saving treatment would take collaboration, in this case with pharmaceutical giant Novartis, but there were learning curves around how to build relationships and share resources, personnel and [innovation] rights. 

“Changing the culture toward a culture of relationships was not entirely smooth,” Swartley said. 

As universities today increasingly think outside of federal funding to drive research innovation, Merli takes personally her role in building connections to address gaps in translating innovations from the lab to society. Partnerships, she said, are one way to drive innovations into communities where they can improve lives.

“Industry-university partnerships are mission critical because universities are notoriously engines of discovery,” said Merli, who holds a joint role with UD and the Delaware Bioscience Association. Her position was enabled by the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Accelerating Research Translation (NSF ART) program, which is investing in capacity-building resources that enhance research impact. UD is an inaugural awardee of the NSF ART program.

“Faculty members are trained to be curiosity driven, but it's often companies that have the resources, the regulatory experience, the market reach and the ability to scale those discoveries into usable products and therapies and technologies,

Figuring out which projects will be attractive and how to partner in ways that are friendly and commercially viable can be tricky. It’s something Merli thinks about a lot. “When it's done right, creating those partnerships ensures that the ideas that we develop here in our labs don't just sit there and collect dust. They reach patients, farmers, manufacturers … they reach communities in ways that improve lives,” she said.

UD is a nationally recognized R1 research university with deep expertise in life sciences, biotechnology, and bioengineering, with research spanning drug discovery, biomanufacturing, neuroscience, genomics, biomaterials and more. It is home to the Delaware Biotechnology Institute (DBI), a hub for interdisciplinary life sciences research and industry collaboration, and boasts sophisticated facilities, including the Ammon Pinizzotto Biopharmaceutical Innovation Center, a cutting-edge facility advancing biopharma research and training, that also houses NIIMBL. 

Meanwhile, core facilities located at UD, such as the Delaware Bio-Imaging Center, the DNA Sequencing and Genotyping Center and bioinformatics, microscopy and microanalysis facilities provide researchers on and off campus with access to sophisticated equipment and results.

Merli considers herself an informal matchmaker of sorts. She meets regularly with UD engineers, chemists, synthetic biologists, plant biologists and other scientific experts to understand the technologies developing at UD, then engages with biotechnology companies across the state to understand their pain points and where collaboration might provide solutions, while driving UD inventions to market. It’s a role that complements and overlaps with other units on campus related to UD’s innovation engine, including the Office of Economic Innovation and Partnerships and its Technology Transfer Office.

Delivering a skilled life science workforce

Katie Lakofsky, bioscience workforce director for UD and the Delaware Bioscience Association, is focused on building the talent pipeline for the state’s life science ecosystem across all roles, from those that do not require a college degree to those requiring advanced education, such as a doctoral degree. 

At UD, Lakofsky is working to connect undergraduate and graduate students to internship, training and job opportunities in the life sciences sector. 

UD produces top-tier graduates in the life sciences from undergraduate to doctoral levels in biology, biomedical engineering, chemistry, chemical engineering and related fields. Programs like UD’s Biotech Scholars, the U.S. National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates (NSF REU), and NIIMBL workforce initiatives prepare students for real-world bioscience careers. But connection points still help when it comes to landing a job after graduation.

At the conference, Lakofsky led a panel session on building this life science workforce of the future. 

Panelist Jessica Hunt, manufacturing lead at Siemens Healthineers, emphasized the need for trained individuals for both degreed and non-degreed roles, especially as new technologies emerge and the current workforce ages.

“Trades and maintenance roles have been hard to hire and hard to retain. As our aging workforce retires, this is creating a hole,” Hunt said.

John Balchunas, workforce director at NIIMBL, noted this challenge exists nationally and internationally. A recent National Security Commission on Emergency Biotechnology report showed the number of degreed graduates won’t be enough to fill all available industry jobs, as biotechnology rapidly continues to expand beyond health care, encompassing innovations with applications to agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing and defense.

Non-degree pathways can help fill this gap, but awareness of the field is lacking, Lakofsky said. 

She shared a recent interaction with a high school student at a job fair. He liked working with his hands, so he was thinking about becoming an auto mechanic. Lakofsky asked whether he realized that Delaware is home to many life science industries in need of employees trained to use their hands — and minds — to diagnose, problem-solve and maintain sophisticated laboratory or diagnostics equipment. He wanted to know more. 

That student is exactly the kind of individual Lakofsky hopes will eventually consider the biomanufacturing training program hosted by BioConnect DE, a new non-profit launched out of her workforce development efforts. BioConnect DE serves as a cornerstone for life sciences workforce development in Delaware, strengthening local economic growth and supporting the long-term success of the region’s life sciences industry.

The biomanufacturing training program, a key BioConnect DE initiative, is designed for individuals 18 and older who are looking to gain new skills or reskill for a career in the life sciences. BioConnect DE aims to open doors to the industry for people from a wide range of backgrounds—whether or not they hold a college degree. 

“These careers must be tangible so that students can see themselves in an industry that can be hard for an 18-year-old to get their arms around,” Balchunas said. 

UD facilities like the upcoming Securing American Biomanufacturing Research and Education (SABRE) Center will provide students a ‘behind the scenes’ look at life science career possibilities. The SABRE Center is a testbed biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility that will one day sit adjacent to UD’s Ammon Pinizzotto Biopharmaceutical Innovation Center (home to NIIMBL) on the Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus. The future 80,000-square-foot Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) facility will enable hands-on training in advanced manufacturing techniques and the specialized skillsets needed to make biopharmaceuticals and other high-precision products.

Delaware is open for (life sciences) business 

In his keynote address, Delaware Governor Matt Meyer reflected on Delaware’s rise over the last 30 years into a global hub for life science innovation. He noted the contributions these innovations have had on our lives, health and overall wellbeing and the ways that a strong workforce fosters a robust economy when manufacturing, technology and science come together. Meyer encouraged those in the sector to continue the good work underway to ensure Delaware’s standing as a top-notch producer of life science solutions.

“What I know to be true is that there are going to be emerging life sciences technologies invented somewhere, in the coming months, years and decades. These life sciences technologies are going to transform lives and potentially communities, cities, counties and states,” Meyer said. “Our job is to make sure those innovations happen here in Delaware. Our job is to make sure that this is the place to commercialize and scale new innovations that are already here.” 

At UD, the innovation ecosystem is growing — from ideation to commercialization — through the work of its faculty, students and researchers. The University’s Office of Economic Innovation and Partnerships (OEIP) and Corporate Engagement teams support this effort, facilitating industry-university connections, spinouts, licensing, and co-development opportunities. To learn more about how to get connected, visit UD’s Innovation Gateway.