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The Economic Development Administration plans to award about $34 million to the KC BioHub as part of its effort to invest in domestic technological development, according to a Monday announcement by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
The EDA said the KC BioHub, a consortium of facilities that stretches across the greater Kansas City region, is designed to position eastern Kansas and western Missouri as a global leader in biomanufacturing for human and animal health.
“This award is a vote of confidence in the strength of our regional assets, the depth of our relationships with our partners, and the promise of our shared vision for the future,” said Melissa Roberts Chapman, KC BioHub’s president and regional innovation officer, in a news release from U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids of Kansas.
“Together, we have demonstrated that our region has the talent, infrastructure, partnerships, and innovation necessary to onshore the manufacturing of biologics,” Roberts said.
The Kansas City BioSecure Manufacturing Tech Hub, or KC BioHub, focuses on developments and manufacturing related to human and animal health, particularly medicines, vaccines and cancer treatments. It is led by BioNexus KC, a local nonprofit that supports life sciences research.
In 2022, the Congress established 31 tech hubs nationwide as part of the CHIPS and Science Act, which supports domestic innovation and production. Kansas City was designated as a hub location in late 2023.
According to the Commerce Department’s Monday announcement, the latest investments will improve the country’s economic competitiveness and national security.
“Once fully implemented, these projects will spur long‑term economic growth, strengthen domestic supply chains, and drive America’s leadership in critical technologies that will define global competitiveness for decades,” Deputy Assistant Secretary and Chief Operating Officer Ben Page said in the department’s news release.
The award is one of six the EDA announced Monday as part of a roughly $169 million investment in six tech hubs nationwide. The others are located in central Missouri, Virginia, Maine, Idaho and Wyoming, and Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin.
KC BioHub’s award is expected to be used for modernizing manufacturing, strengthening domestic supply chains and improving processes that turn research developments into commercial products, according to the department’s news release.
“This is a huge win for Kansas City,” said Davids, who has supported both the CHIPS and Science Act and Kansas City tech hub location.
“Our region has everything it takes to lead the future of medical innovation, and this investment is proof that the rest of the country sees that, too.”
The Star’s Matthew Kelly contributed.
