2 min read March 2022 — Digital health and cell and gene therapy are leading the innovation landscape in Philadelphia, with artificial intelligence playing a crucial role in future improvements in healthcare costs and outcomes, said University City Science Center President and CEO Tiffany Wilson in an interview with Invest:.
What is the Science Center’s top priority moving forward?
The Science Center has a long history of providing support for early stage companies, as demonstrated by the success of our Launch Lane Accelerator and ic@3401 incubator, and we are doubling down on those commercialization activities. If we continue to be successful with commercialization support and more companies go through that funnel, that creates an opportunity to foster more successful companies in the region and from that flows job creation and investment activity.
What fundamentals have established Philadelphia as a Top 30 global startup ecosystem?
What fascinated me about the Philadelphia market and attracted me to the opportunity of leading the next chapter of the Science Center is the density of healthcare institutions and academic research centers in the region. We’ve seen a lot of growth in the area of cell and gene therapy with a tremendous amount of capital entering the market to support that activity, and the focus on Philadelphia was only increased during COVID. The MRNA technology originated out of Penn, shining a light on the opportunity to invest in the next generation of therapies that are going to drive personalized medicine, new cancer treatments and so on.
Another area in the spotlight is digital health and data. We see a great deal of digital health activity and there are mechanisms in place to scale those ventures. Policies, reimbursement and clinical adoption of these new services will provide new opportunities for the adoption of digital health and evolution of the industry as we continue to adjust to whatever the new normal is and will be.
We have the research, the workforce and capital. Moving toward the No. 1 spot is just a matter of continuing to evolve how we harness all of these pieces and connect the dots.
How does demand for your services look today and which companies are you targeting?
There is demand for startup support services, accelerators and early stage capital because finding the funding for startup activity is difficult. There is a lack of seed and Series A funding, particularly in medtech. The growth capital is there but to achieve follow-on investment and a successful exit the companies must survive to a point of generating significant revenue. It’s a hard, long process for technology startups, so startups are hungry to engage with organizations like the Science Center to receive the coaching, connectivity and capital they need to be successful.
For 2022, we are focused on technologies that will address health equity issues. This isn’t an issue unique to the Science Center or Philadelphia; it’s an issue that’s been put front and center with the pandemic exposing the gross inequities that exist within the U.S. healthcare system. I also see great opportunity building on the digital health front, with everything becoming increasingly interconnected and bringing structure to the medical device innovation community, complementing what is happening in cell and gene therapy and life sciences broadly.
In what specific subsectors do you see the most potential for growth?
I’m seeing a lot of interest and opportunity in AI, machine learning and data analytics in reducing the cost of healthcare delivery, shifting the patient care continuum and creating new value propositions for healthcare systems that result in better patient outcomes. These breakthroughs are also enabling new therapeutics in personalized medicine and advancements in genomics.
What is your outlook for Philadelphia’s innovation ecosystem?
We have tremendous opportunity in front of us. We have superb academic research institutions, world-renowned healthcare systems and a level of business and civic engagement that is impressive. On the other hand we have many challenges to address and solve, such as disparities in health outcomes and well-being. All the necessary pieces are here. We look forward to helping to stitch them together in a way that lifts the Philadelphia market.
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