U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey was in Philadelphia Monday touring the University City Science Center. Toomey said he is trying to learn as much as possible about the life-sciences industry in Pennsylvania so he can advocate for the sector while he is in Washington.
In the face of shrinking government budgets, Toomey said the center is a model for how research and development can fund itself.
"One of the exciting things about the Science Center is the extent to which is has an internal capacity to generate revenue, especially from commercial real estate, which it then plows into the incubator.” Toomey said. “It’s a very exciting model and one that is not nearly as dependent on government as other models are."
Toomey visited two companies at the center's business incubator, one developing an imaging agent for the plaque in the brain that can causes Alzheimer's, and another working on a rapid diagnostic test for food contamination.
