Chamber-led coalition awarded $35 million by US Department of Commerce

Today, President Biden announced the Oklahoma Biotech Innovation Cluster as one of 21 winners of the $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge, the most impactful regional economic development competition in decades. Funded by President Biden’s American Rescue Plan and administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA).  

The Oklahoma Biotech Innovation Cluster (OBIC) Initiative is spearheaded by the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber alongside primary coalition partners including the University of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma City Innovation District, and with industry leadership from Echo Investment Capital. The OBIC 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 burgeoning biotechnology cluster in Oklahoma. These partnerships support initiatives across a unique urban-rural region to foster inclusive access to high-wage career pathways, increase R&D programs and partnerships, and expand critical scientific infrastructure that make our region more conducive to commercialization of high-value innovations.  

With $35 million in EDA funding, the Oklahoma Biotech Innovation Cluster will rapidly expand the region’s biotechnology cluster, bolstering domestic resiliency within the biopharmaceutical supply chain, and making the cluster more globally competitive.  

“The biotechnology industry is rapidly expanding in Oklahoma, and this funding will build on that growth with an emphasis on the specific needs of the community, from its workers to the Tribal communities who will benefit from this innovation,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “The Oklahoma Biotech Innovation Cluster will rapidly expand the region’s growing biotechnology cluster, providing resources to create bottom-up economic growth for the greater regional economy.”  

“The Economic Development Administration is proud to support the bold vision of the Greater Oklahoma City Economic Development Foundation and its coalition partners,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Alejandra Y. Castillo. “This EDA investment expands innovative industry while creating a complementary workforce to ensure regional economic transformation.” 

The Oklahoma Biotech Innovation Cluster is one of 21 winners – each a regional coalition of partnering entities – that will receive awards between $25 million and $65 million to implement an average of six integrative projects that will enable each region's economic transformation and competitiveness.  

The grant proposal was designed to catalyze the bioscience sector in the Oklahoma City region, taking advantage of groundwork laid in the industry by Oklahoma City leaders over the last 25 years, the growth of new private investment in the region, and the opportunities presented by growing complexities and bottlenecks in the drug development and delivery process. “This grant presents Oklahoma City with an opportunity to expand its role as a national hub for drug development, testing, and manufacturing,” said Roy Williams, President, and CEO of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber.  

“Major scientific advancements are best achieved through strong public-private collaboration, which is exactly what will be accomplished through this coalition,” said OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. “This exciting initiative unites our region’s brightest minds in biotech, and we are grateful that it will leverage OU research expertise to develop life-changing solutions while also fostering economic prosperity for our state.” 

OU Vice President for Research and Partnerships Tomás Díaz de la Rubia said, “we saw this as an opportunity to leverage the strong public and private research assets that exist at the University of Oklahoma, in Oklahoma City, and in the region to create a vibrant ecosystem here that not only fuels our economy but supports increased commercialization and U.S. manufacturing for new drugs and therapies. This funding, and the strong partnerships cultivated through the coalition’s planning process, will dramatically increase our research output, our ability to connect that research with commercialization resources and capital, and our capacity to train the workforce needed to sustain the industry’s growth. This grant moves us one step closer to realizing our vision of a strong biotechnology and biomanufacturing innovation cluster in Oklahoma.” 

The interrelated investments in the grant unify the product development pipeline from translational research to testing and manufacturing while providing support (workforce, entrepreneurial start-ups, and industry partnerships) to bolster the bioscience innovation ecosystem in the region.  

“This kind of collaboration falls squarely within our mission at the OU Health Sciences Center,” said Interim Senior Vice President and Provost of the Health Sciences Center Dr. Gary Raskob. “Through this grant, our researchers will pursue scientific discoveries which can be evaluated and applied in practice, with the goal of improving people’s lives. Biotechnology innovation makes critical contributions to both better health care and to the economic growth of Oklahoma City, and OU is pleased to be part of a team of very talented partners to bring this to fruition.” 

The coalition’s plan was developed to seize upon industry shifts that are increasingly advantaging cost-effective and streamlined development ecosystems, enabling life sciences innovators to move seamlessly from ideation to clinical trials and manufacturing, and eventually to market without leaving Oklahoma. “Many of the new drugs and therapies we need today are being developed in small, agile bioscience companies, which face significant challenges and financial hurdles,” said Christian Kanady, Founding Partner at Echo. “Oklahoma City has built-in cost advantages for business operation, and when you combine that with an infrastructure that supports the testing and development process, we become a great solution for growing bioscience companies needing access to clinical trial networks and to biomanufacturing, without relying on foreign providers.” 

The grant will fund six core investment projects.  

• OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center for Therapeutics - Translational Research Labs: development of 10 translational research labs dedicated to drug discovery within the OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center. 
• Oklahoma Biotech Startup Program – supportive programming to build a vibrant regional biotech startup pipeline led by the University of Oklahoma. 
• The University of Oklahoma Biotech Core Facility - a new facility with state-of-the-art high-throughput, advanced bioprocessing equipment and services for instructors and researchers at OU, local nonprofit organizations like OMRF, and private companies like Wheeler Bio. 
• OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center Early Phase Clinical Trial Network - an initiative to double the size of the existing clinical trial program at OU Health Stephenson Cancer Center, commensurate with the demand for Phase I trials created through accompanying translational science investments and industry growth. 

• Biomanufacturing Workforce Training Center - a new program housed in the Oklahoma City Innovation District to meet the growing demand for skilled labor in the OBIC, which will enable the formation of inclusive, non-degreed career pathways into high-wage jobs. 
• Oklahoma Bioscience Cluster Initiative - an initiative to lead regular convenings of industry leadership, conduct needs assessments, encourage regional connectivity, and spur policy advocacy. 

The coalition members see their partnership as a real opportunity for success. “We can strengthen the overall innovation ecosystem and create a high functioning industry cluster,” said Bill Lance, Secretary of State, Chickasaw Nation, and a member of the coalition. “By connecting all these components, and creating strong links between the community, universities, and industry to advance biosciences development, we will foster commercialization of university-based research and advance industry collaborations. We will also create new job opportunities for diverse populations across the region, a central goal of this initiative.”  

This level of engagement recognizes the importance of “connectivity” across research, commercialization, new venture, and product development with cluster growth spanning activities from technology development to clinical trials to advanced manufacturing and distribution. “The coalition created around this work is exemplary of Oklahoma City’s success,” Williams said. “Today’s announcement is only possible due to the partners working together, and the guidance and support of central Oklahoma’s congressional delegation. We appreciate Representatives Bice, Cole and Lucas, as well as Senators Inhofe and Lankford for their support, and particularly our senior Senator Jim Inhofe. He has long championed the work of the Economic Development Administration, and this is truly a tribute to his efforts. Thanks to the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration, our region is now equipped with the tools needed to scale this cluster and make Oklahoma a stronger, more inclusive, and resilient economy,” he concluded. 

The Build Back Better Regional Challenge (BBBRC) is an unprecedented competitive federal grant program that provides each regional coalition with significant investments to tackle a wide variety of projects – including entrepreneurial support, workforce development, infrastructure, and innovation – to drive inclusive economic growth. Each coalition’s collection of projects aims to develop and strengthen regional industry clusters – all while embracing economic equity, creating good-paying jobs, and enhancing U.S. competitiveness globally. Projects span 24 states and include $87 million to two primarily Tribal coalitions and over $150 million for projects serving communities impacted by the declining use of coal. 

 The 21 BBBRC awardees were chosen from 60 EDA-designated finalists that each received approximately $500,000 in funding and technical assistance to continue developing their cluster strategies. The funding for each coalition is approximate, with awards to be signed later in September. Those 60 finalists were chosen from a Phase 1 applicant pool of 529 applications, which exemplifies the tremendous demand for transformational economic development approaches. EDA will continue to support all 60 finalists with the creation of a Community of Practice that will provide technical support, foster connectedness with peer regions and build capacity. 

The Build Back Better Regional Challenge is one of EDA’s many programs aimed at building strong regional economies and supporting community-led economic development. EDA was allocated $3 billion in supplemental funding under the American Rescue Plan to assist communities nationwide in their efforts to build back better by accelerating economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and building local economies that will be resilient to future economic shocks.