VintaBio joins Wistar and others in biotech job training program

Original Source: Philadelphia Business Journal

Philadelphia cell and gene therapy manufacturer VintaBio is joining with Wistar Institute and the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative as the new employer partner for Wistar's biomedical technician training program.

The two-year-old training program, aimed at supporting VintaBio's workforce needs, is backed by the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. and Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia.

The biomedical technician training program will prepare graduates with at least a high school equivalency for roles — with a starting pay of $25 per hour — at VintaBio’s gene manufacturing site at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.

The program's goal is to place 10 graduates at VintaBio. The company, led by CEO David Radspinner, emerged from stealth mode early last year with $64 million in funding. Radspinner said the need for skills across the life sciences industry continues to be at an all-time high.

The Wistar biomedical technician training program — modeled after technician training program the institute initiated more than two decades go — was started in 2022. The launch came after a study conducted by Econsult Solutions for the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia’s CEO Council for Growth and the University City Science Center found about 10,500 people in the area work at cell and gene therapy companies or at contract manufacturing organizations, biopharma companies, research organizations or hospitals in the cell and gene therapy fields. The number represented a 127% increase from the job total calculated in a similar study conducted in 2020.

The study — issued prior to VintaBio's launch — concluded that while the Philadelphia region will likely maintain its position as a leading cell and gene therapy research and development hub, it will increasingly become a commercialization and manufacturing center creating job opportunities at all levels, including those not requiring a four-year degree.

Kate McNamara, PIDC’s senior vice president at the Navy Yard, said the training program is creating "equitable access to meaningful career opportunities in one of the region’s fastest growing sectors by lowering the barrier of entry."

McNamara noted the program's previous partnerships in 2022 and 2023 with Iovance Biotherapeutics, which has a plant at the Navy Yard, connected 10 Philadelphians with full-time jobs and currently has another 12 students in training.

This year's 22-week paid training program will start at The Wistar Institute with 10 weeks of evening classes focused on foundation curriculum in cellular and molecular biology. That will be followed by a full-time hands-on laboratory orientation, then transition to a 10-week externship at VintaBio’s 22,500-square-foot site designed to streamline cell and gene therapy development and manufacturing.

The West Philadelphia Skills Initiative will support program participants by offering professional development courses, networking opportunities, and coaching.

Recruitment applications for the program are available at navyyard.org/skills. The deadline for applying in Jan. 30. The program will begin Feb. 13 and concludes in July.