UVA’s new Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology will advance research in these areas for the benefit of patients everywhere and, closer to home, ensure that no Virginian needs to leave the state for even the most complex care. Paul Manning is the chair and chief executive officer of PBM Capital, a health care-focused investment firm. The Manning family has been a longtime supporter of UVA and UVA Health's research efforts.

In addition to transforming health care delivery across the state, UVA’s ambitious plans will significantly boost the economies of both Central Virginia and the entire commonwealth. The Manning Institute is anticipated to generate hundreds of jobs directly, as well as potentially thousands indirectly. It is also anticipated to attract pharmaceutical and biotech companies to what is expected to become a major hub for research and manufacturing centered around UVA’s new state-of-the-art biotech facility. The added economic impact is anticipated to be significant over the coming years.

In addition to the generous gift from Paul and Diane Manning, the first phase of the institute will be funded by a substantial initial investment of $50 million from the Commonwealth of Virginia and $150 million from UVA, for a total initial investment of $300 million.

The Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology will help find new treatments and cures for even the most challenging and devastating diseases, including those for which we now lack effective treatments. Its focuses will include cellular therapy, gene therapy, nanotechnology, and drug delivery, as well as other areas of focus that hold the potential to transform medicine as we know it.

The institute will allow UVA to capitalize on its existing strengths, such as immunotherapy, which supercharges the immune system to defeat diseases such as cancer; and nanotechnology, which aims to improve human health using tools far tinier than the width of a single human hair. Nanotechnology, for example, can be used to enhance drug delivery, so that a drug is delivered exactly where it is needed and not to cells where it might be harmful—true precision medicine.

In addition to accelerating such research, the new institute will allow UVA to expand its clinical trial offerings, making it possible for more people to access potential treatments as they are being developed—sometimes years before they become widely available. The launch of the institute will also help UVA attract top talent and bolster funding for its research efforts. Ultimately, the institute is expected to generate an ecosystem of innovation, discovery, manufacturing, and industry with benefits extending far beyond Charlottesville. Officials note, for example, that the development of the Research Triangle in North Carolina has attracted hundreds of companies there.

“The state’s investment in the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology represents a bipartisan effort to provide the best health care possible for all Virginians while growing the state’s economy, creating well-paying jobs, and bolstering UVA Health’s reputation as a world leader in cutting-edge biomedical research,” Del. Todd Gilbert, speaker of Virginia’s House of Delegates, said. “This is a real win for Virginia and its residents, and I’m happy we could come together in Richmond to help make this possible.”

Del. Barry Knight, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee, said the institute will be an incubator for innovation and entrepreneurship across Virginia.

“The Manning Institute will have a huge impact very quickly, but its influence and importance will continue to grow and multiply over the years to come,” he said. “This is a long-term investment in making Virginia a premier biotechnology destination, and I’d like to congratulate UVA and Paul and Diane Manning for their transformative vision for what the state can be.”

Sen. Dick Saslaw, State Senate patron of the original legislation, said, “The Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology is a great example of how support for an important initiative that will ultimately benefit all of our citizens can help propel the commonwealth forward in the bioscience space—from discoveries, manufacturing, and from a workforce perspective.”

The centerpiece of the new institute will be a high-tech facility at Fontaine Research Park that will serve as the nerve center for biotechnology research, development, and manufacturing at UVA. It will bring together under one roof the high-tech research facilities, state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities, and welcoming patient care space needed to accelerate the development and testing of new treatments and cures. Plans for the facility are under way, and additional details will be announced at a later date.

“In addition to the economic and patient-care benefits, the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology will be a huge boost to UVA’s research mission,” Executive Vice President and Provost Ian Baucom, the University’s chief academic officer, said. “This is the type of facility most universities can only dream of, and it will help us attract top talent and train the great biomedical innovators of the future.”

The UVA Manning Institute of Biotechnology’s aim is to produce “translational” research that directly benefits patients, reduces human suffering, and provides better ways to prevent, treat, and cure disease.

UVA’s recent efforts in this area have led to life-changing innovations such as an artificial pancreas that automatically regulates blood sugar for patients with type 1 diabetes, freeing them from endless painful needlesticks, as well as the federal Food and Drug Administration’s approval of a scalpel-free surgical approach that uses focused sound waves to treat a common movement disorder and Parkinson’s disease symptoms. Using the focused ultrasound approach pioneered at UVA, appropriate patients can go into an MRI with their hand shaking uncontrollably and emerge with their ability to write and feed themselves restored.

Such innovations made University and state leaders eager to capitalize on the incredible biomedical potential in Charlottesville, and to provide exactly the right environment for it to flourish and grow, to the benefit of all of Virginia.

“The Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology is one of the most exciting and impactful undertakings in the history of UVA,” Whittington Clement, rector of the University’s Board of Visitors, said. “It will benefit the health and wellbeing of people here in the commonwealth, but also all around the world. It is the very definition of President Ryan’s vision of UVA as a force for great and good.”