Oklahoma City’s biomanufacturing workforce training center brings a world of opportunity
Downtown Oklahoma City skyline photographed from the Innovation District's Convergence site.
The Oklahoma City Innovation District will soon welcome a “once-in-a-generation” biomanufacturing workforce training center (BWTC) program to benefit all Oklahomans.
One of the only programs of its kind within the United States, the BWTC program presents inclusive, non-degreed careers within the city’s emerging bioscience industry.
The Oklahoma Biotech Innovation Cluster (OBIC), spearheaded by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, will directly benefit from the BWTC program’s output of skilled technicians that are able to step directly into the roles needed at local research labs and generate data more quickly.
The OBIC was recently awarded $35 million through President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, which allotted $1 billion to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) to be administered through their Build Back Better Regional Challenge. The cluster was selected as one of 21 challenge recipients. The BWTC program will build on these efforts by training, retaining and attracting new talent to the Innovation District.
Oklahoma Biotech Innovation Cluster partners discuss plans for $35 million awarded by U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration.
“This training center positions OKC as one of the few hubs for biomanufacturing talent in the U.S., on top of the state’s benefits of cost, location and infrastructural advantages,” said Dallas Browning, partner over research and investments at Echo Investment Capital, a fellow OBIC coalition organization.
“It will attract business expansions and new direct investment in biomanufacturing, further growing the industry in Oklahoma, and it will fuel the continued development of existing companies in the area, like Wheeler Bio and Cytovance Biologics, creating hundreds of new no-degree-needed jobs that pay at or above the area’s median income.”
Browning says even those with no interest in biomanufacturing will benefit from the BWTC program’s boost in local economic development by creating additional wealth and fueling new businesses in the area.
“The biomanufacturing workforce training center program provides Oklahomans with more opportunities for employment in the state,” said Stephanie Wickham, senior director of research and development at Cytovance.
“This workforce training center will provide another option for our state’s families to not follow the work to another state, but rather to follow the work here; to stay where their roots are.”
Aside from local impacts, the BWTC program has potential to help Oklahoma City position itself as a national hub for biomanufacturing by addressing the middle American region’s process for full spectrum integration across the development lifecycle.
“An industry shift toward entrepreneurial discovery and development is underway in biomanufacturing, with emergent biopharma companies now responsible for 90 percent of next-gen product discovery and development,” Wheeler Bio CEO and co-founder Jesse McCool said.
“Uniting regional research, manufacturing, clinical trials and more could offer a frictionless and cost-effective environment for global drug developers. This gives a unique advantage to middle American ecosystems to compete against incumbent coastal leaders; and due to Oklahoma City’s natural advantages, the city is well positioned to meet the above needs as it seeks to scale its workforce with the BWTC.”
That workforce will become a driving indicator of economic impact across, not only the city nor state, but the region. While the oil and gas industry has served as a primary resource for Oklahoma and Texas in the past, the states are now looking to diversify with major investments into the future of biomanufacturing.
Provided by National Cancer Institute.
“There are tremendous opportunities for Oklahoma within the biotech industry,” said Jenny Ligon, associate director of the National Center for Therapeutics Manufacturing (NCTM) in College Station, Texas.
“Since the NCTM opened 10 years ago, it has trained more than 2,200 people for pharmaceutical companies all over the region. When local biomanufacturer Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies Texas (FDBT) came to the NCTM at the onset of COVID and expressed that they needed more than 300 new hires, we had a customized onboarding program prepared in less than three weeks; and since August 2020, we have trained more than 400 FDBT new hires and tenured employees.”
However, Ligon emphasized that even with impressive numbers for new hires, it is “impossible” for any single biomanufacturing organization to handle all domestic biotech workforce needs. Therefore, Oklahoma City’s BWTC will not only help drive the city’s economy but will serve as a valued partner organization to fellow bio-industry organizations like NCTM within the region, and beyond.
“The manufacturing technologies comprising this industry are also ever-changing, and it’s no wonder our workforce can’t keep up. It’s important for organizations such as the NCTM and OKC’s BWTC to collaborate and share best practices, as no one organization can fulfill our domestic biotech workforce needs.”
Coinciding the federal government’s investment through the Build Back Better Regional Challenge, President Biden announced an executive order to advance biotechnology and biomanufacturing innovation within the United States.
“I think Oklahoma City’s BWTC will play a pivotal role in the president’s recent executive order, and Oklahoma is strategically located at the center of the U.S. to be able to service both of the country’s coasts equally, while maintaining a low operating cost,” Wickham said. “Having a workforce ready to plug into the industry will be attractive to companies looking to build here.”
Echo’s Browning reiterated Wickham’s thoughts on Oklahoma City’s potential to become a key location for the future of the U.S., adding that “the U.S. needs to ensure that it isn't always dependent on far-away nations.”
“The BWTC will strengthen OKC’s capacity for biomanufacturing, enabling one more domestic hub that strategically lessens American firms’ dependence on overseas providers,” Browning said.
Provided by National Cancer Institute.
Browning emphasized that around 60 percent of all new medicines are currently being innovated within the U.S., delivering more new drugs than the rest of the world, combined. The BWTC program will allow companies to move quicker and more cost-effectively, while mitigating risks, by keeping innovation and implementation processes near one another.
The BWTC program is one of six core investment projects by the OBIC. The cluster will also develop 10 translational research labs dedicated to drug discovery within the OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center; a regional biotech startup pipeline led by the University of Oklahoma; a facility with high-throughput, advanced bioprocessing equipment and services for OU instructors and researchers, local nonprofits and private companies; an initiative to double the existing clinical trial program at OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center in size and commensurate with the demand for trials; and an initiative to lead regular convenings of industry leadership, conduct needs assessments, encourage regional connectivity and spur policy advocacy.
The OBIC is comprised of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, OU, Oklahoma City Innovation District, Echo Investment Capital and more. The coalition is supported by more than 40 partners across academia, tribal nations, government, industry, community, investors and other key stakeholders involved in the continued development of the city’s bio-industries.
You can learn more about the OBIC and the $35 million awarded to the cluster through the Build Back Better Regional Challenge, below:
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