Medical and Pharmaceutical

The U.S. National Science Foundation announced two of the first-ever NSF Regional Innovation Engines as a part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. The two awardees are focused on regenerative medicine and driving innovation in textile manufacturing in regions anchored in North Carolina.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology has awarded nearly $3 million to 15 small businesses in nine states under the Small Business Innovation Research Program. The funding will go to research and development and commercialization projects to support a variety of technology-based programs such as advances in semiconductors, drug development and flexible electronics manufacturing.

The U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) has made one cooperative agreement award totaling $1,000,000 as part of its 2021-NIST-MEP-CAP-01 Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs). GENEDGE Alliance (GENEDGE), the MEP Center in Virginia, will lead a project, the Medical Manufacturer MedAccred Accreditation Pathway (MedMMAP Phase III).

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services awarded more than $1.4 billion for Project NextGen to support the development of a new generation of tools and technologies to protect against COVID-19. The awards follow extensive coordination with industry partners and include support for clinical trials that will enable the rapid development of more effective and longer-lasting coronavirus vaccines, a new monoclonal antibody and transformative technologies to streamline manufacturing processes.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $1.7 million grant to the town of Oxford, Indiana, for water infrastructure upgrades to support manufacturing. This project will increase capacity and reliability of water service to meet the increased needs of a local pharmaceutical manufacturer, Oxford’s largest employer.

HHS is announcing the “HHS Bridge Access Program For COVID-19 Vaccines and Treatments Program’ to maintain broad access to COVID-19 vaccines for millions of uninsured Americans. The program will create a unique $1.1 billion public-private partnership to help maintain uninsured individuals’ access to COVID-19 care at their local pharmacies, through existing public health infrastructure, and at their local health centers.