During a visit to Philadelphia on Tuesday, Gov. Josh Shapiro touted investments made by his administration into the life sciences sector through the latest state budget.

“I think you can feel the momentum building all across our Commonwealth in the life sciences space,” Shapiro said. “That momentum is real.”

The $50.8 billion state budget Shapiro signed earlier this month included $125 million to create Innovate in PA 2.0. This program will provide capital for promising startups, create a statewide clinical trial network for the life sciences, and enhance the Commonwealth’s innovation network to help these companies succeed in Pennsylvania, according to the Shapiro administration.

Over the past year, Pennsylvania secured the two largest life sciences investments in the state's history, Shapiro said, with Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson committing to multi-billion-dollar investments in the Lehigh Valley and suburban Philadelphia.

Over 100,000 people across more than 3,000 companies and research institutions work in Pennsylvania’s life sciences sector. Over the past five years, according to the Shapiro administration, researchers and companies in the state have secured more than 10,700 new life science patents, which is the fourth-highest total in the country.

Shapiro believes Pennsylvania is “uniquely positioned” for innovation in this sector.

Shapiro toured B+labs at the Cira Centre, located in Philadelphia’s Schuylkill Yards, which is one of the city’s life sciences incubators dedicated to accelerating the growth of the life sciences industry by providing lab infrastructure.

“I believe we are now poised for explosive innovation and growth in the life sciences sector and in incubator spaces like B+Labs that are going to drive a lot of that progress,” Shapiro said.

Several lawmakers and industry leaders attended the ceremonial bill signing.

One of those industry leaders in attendance was Chris Molineaux, President and CEO of Life Sciences PA, the statewide trade group of the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.

Molineaux dubbed Shapiro “America’s life sciences governor,” and said the investment made from Innovate in PA 2.0 is the “most significant commitment by Pennsylvania state government into the life sciences in almost three decades.”

Madeline Bell, CEO of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, CHOP, also emphasized the importance of this investment from the state government to make scientific breakthroughs possible.

“Every scientific breakthrough comes with a great idea, but it really requires funding and it requires teamwork,” she said. “And many other people that are in this room and that’s why Innovate in PA 2.0 is so important to us.”

State Rep. Tim Briggs, who has served as the Democratic chair of the Life Sciences Caucus for nearly two decades, introduced the first iteration of Innovate in PA in 2013 with state Rep. Warren Kampf, the then-GOP chair of the caucus.

Briggs explained that from that first investment made under then-Gov. Tom Corbett, which was $100 million, until now, “very little” was happening to benefit the life sciences industry in the state and described it as a frustration.

“I think 17 years I’ve been the chair of the Life Science Caucus, this is the biggest day that I can recall,” he said on Tuesday.

During Shapiro’s remarks, he also said Pennsylvania, while working with the private sector, has created more jobs than all but two states in the entire country.

“And I'm putting North Carolina and Texas on notice,” Shapiro said. “I'm competitive as Hell. We're coming for you next.”

Molineaux described the investments in Innovate in PA 2.0 as “very timely from a competitive standpoint.”

“The governor talked about North Carolina and Texas,” he said. “Innovate in PA 2.0 is a true differentiator for Pennsylvania.”

Molineaux argued that this $150 million investment will help attract start-up companies to stay here, while also attracting larger companies.

Jim Snell, Business Manager of Steamfitters Local 420, was also on hand to celebrate the funding and said it will create jobs for those in the building trades.

While the focus mainly touched on the bipartisan nature of this effort at the state level, a few jabs were thrown at the federal government during the press conference.

“We are a home of a lot of vaccine research and production right here in Pennsylvania. Half of all vaccines produced and deployed in the United States are manufactured right here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” Shapiro said. “We are proud of that, and I feel like it is important to note that unlike some of the partners at the federal level, we believe in science here in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

“And we believe in individual liberty and freedom for parents and others to make decisions over what vaccines they should take, not people like Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,” he added.

State Sen. Steve Santarsiero, D-Newtown, explained that he believes the environment and challenges for these companies in the life sciences space has “gotten more extreme,” over the past few years.

“With the drying up of grants at the federal level, it is incumbent upon us to do something about that and to help,” he said.

Shapiro told reporters that the money for this program will be driven out in the next couple of weeks by the Department of Community & Economic Development, DCED. He said that there will be an application process through DCED and rules will be forthcoming in the near future.