Bucks Co. Employees Retirement Board Pledge $5M To Biotech Center

BUCKINGHAM TOWNSHIP, PA — The Bucks County Employees' Retirement Board has made a multi-million dollar pledge to fund the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center and its partners.

The board's $5 million commitment will help the Buckingham based research institute reach its $50 million fundraising goal for the Hatch Biofund, which is intended to support PABC member companies. The fund was created by the Baruch S. Blumberg Insititute, based in Doylestown, which manages the PABC.

More than 80 small to mid-size research and pharmaceutical companies belong to the PABC, and about half of them have operations on site in Bucks County.

County commissioner Bob Harvie, who was involved in the negotiations, praised the board's investment and said the center has been "quietly changing the world through its innovative and collaborative approach to 21st Century medicine and science."

For its entire history, "Bucks County has been a place where dreams can become reality and the launch of the Hatch Biofund is another part of that story," he added.

Louis Kassa, the PABC's executive vice president and chief operating officer, called the center " a jewel in Bucks County's crown" that has served as an engine for economic development.

"Our county's leadership has always been supportive, and this new investment is major step forward," Kassa said. "Their commitment will help accelerate our efforts, advancing research and helping our companies grow, which can mean a significant number of new jobs. So, this is genuinely a win-win scenario in all respects."

The $5 million investment in the PABC by the Bucks County Employees' Retirement Board follows a $10 million commitment made in March by Daiichi Sankyo, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Japan with a U.S. headquarters in Basking Ridge, N.J. Also last month, Provco Group LLC of Villanova, Pa., agreed to invest $2 million in the Hatch Biofund.

The fund's leadership hope to raise $50 million with a first close in the coming months.

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