A bill that will provide $291 million in state funding for Jackson Laboratory’s (JAX) new billion dollar personalised medicine project on the campus of the University of Connecticut Health Center has been cleared.
A collaborative effort between Jackson Laboratory, the State of Connecticut, the University of Connecticut and Yale University, the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine will accelerate the development of new medical treatments tailored to each patient’s unique genetic makeup.
The development will result in new biotech jobs.
Permanent jobs associated with the facility total more than 6,800 over 20 years, including 300 direct jobs within 10 years and 600 direct jobs within 20 years. The total 20-year capital and research budget for the institute is projected to be $1.1 billion, with Jackson Laboratory providing $809 million through federal research grants, philanthropy and service income, and the State of Connecticut contributing $291 million ($192 million in a secured construction loan and $99 million in research partnership participation). For every $1 the state is spending on this project, Jackson Laboratory will spend $3.
Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy praised the final passage of the Jackson Laboratory bill.
“By investing in Bioscience Connecticut, we sent a strong message to the industry that the state is ready, willing and able to be a player,” said Governor Malloy. “Just five months later, the state is already reaping its rewards.”
The Jackson Laboratory measure was passed by 21-14 in the Senate and by 101-41 in the House of Representatives, reported The Wall Street Journal.
Recently, Gov. Malloy and state economic development leaders invited The Jackson Laboratory to launch a new center for personalised medicine and systems genomics in Connecticut.
Gov. Malloy, together with representatives of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development and officials of the University of Connecticut, contacted The Jackson Laboratory in July to assess its interest in creating the new research center in Connecticut.
The Jackson Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution and National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center based in Bar Harbor, Maine, with a facility in Sacramento, Calif., and a total staff of about 1,400. Its mission is to discover the genetic basis for preventing, treating and curing human disease, and to enable research and education for the global biomedical community. Annual research grants awarded to JAX during the 2010 fiscal year totaled $62.7 million.
