Why VCU is pursuing the acquisition of the Altria Center for Research and Technology

By Brian McNeill

Virginia Commonwealth University is pursuing the acquisition of the Altria Center for Research and Technology, a 450,000-square-foot facility adjacent to VCU's academic medical center campus that would help meet Virginia's growing demand for health care workers by providing state-of-the-art research and academic space.

The nine-story facility, located at 601 E. Jackson St. in Richmond, includes advanced research labs, a vivarium and academic space at a fraction of the cost to build new. VCU is seeking the assistance of the commonwealth to acquire the property.

Acquiring the facility would be five to nine years faster and one-third the cost of new construction, according to Meredith Weiss, Ph.D., senior vice president for finance and administration and chief financial officer at VCU.

The Altria center would provide a significant amount of research space, which is crucial for the delivery of new drugs, pharmaceutical advancements and breakthroughs in disease prevention and treatments. This state-of-the-art space will be critical to attracting the very best researchers, as well as biomedical and pharmaceutical companies, to Virginia.

VCU's potential acquisition of the center would:

• Attract top talent and strengthen Richmond as an international destination of choice for pharmaceutical innovations, as evidenced by recent industry expansions in Virginia.
• Provide the state-of-the-art research space required to maintain Massey's comprehensive designation from the National Cancer Institute, enabling Massey to launch lifesaving clinical trials and attract the best doctors and researchers to Virginia.
• Grow enrollment in VCU's new School of Public Health and School of Pharmacy, which is consistently ranked among the top 20 pharmacy schools in the United States.

"As a top 50 public research institution surpassing $560 million in sponsored research funding, a comprehensive cancer center needing to deliver additional research space to meet NCI commitments, and an engine for meeting Virginia's growing demand for health care workers, purchasing this exceptional facility is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet critical needs urgently and economically," Weiss said.

Purchase of the facility would directly advance VCU's globally impactful research efforts, including the rapid discovery and delivery of Massey's lifesaving treatments and trials; transformative pharmaceutical drug development and manufacturing; life-altering breakthroughs in liver, metabolic and chronic disease; and VCU's nationally recognized work in mental health and addiction.

"As a university-based health system, we embrace research and education to improve the health of people in our communities and across the world," said Marlon Levy, M.D., senior vice president for VCU Health Sciences and CEO of VCU Health. "This building, conveniently located near VCU Medical Center, enables us to reimagine our clinical campus space by expanding our capacity to uncover new lifesaving treatments and equip health professionals with the training and skills to improve the lives of generations to come."

Adding modern lab space is especially important for VCU's Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center, said Robert A. Winn, M.D., Massey director and Lipman Chair in Oncology.

"This incredible facility delivers critical and required space to maintain Massey's comprehensive status -- the highest recognition from the NCI," Winn said. "Massey's groundbreaking research has more than doubled in the past five years, and advancing this tremendous momentum requires cutting-edge lab facilities poised to rapidly translate discoveries into lifesaving therapies."

Key takeaways

Massey is one of two NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in Virginia, a designation that makes it eligible for federal funding, information-sharing and resources reserved for the most elite institutions that demonstrate superior research capabilities. To maintain its designation, Massey needs to identify 50,000 square feet of additional modern research space.

The Altria center would also provide academic space for VCU's School of Pharmacy and School of Public Health.

The School of Pharmacy is consistently ranked among the top 20 pharmacy schools in the United States, launching thousands of health sciences careers. Currently spread across multiple buildings, the school provides students with a curriculum focused on improving patient care through pharmaceutical research and state-of-the-art practice, and it offers bachelor's, master's, doctoral and postgraduate programs, along with a Pharmacy Technician Training Program. It is the only school in the United States with a Ph.D. program in pharmaceutical engineering.

"We cannot train students to fill gaps in Virginia's burgeoning pharmaceutical industry workforce or pursue breakthroughs in disease prevention and treatment in old buildings that were never meant for modern, transdisciplinary teaching and research," said Kelechi "K.C." Ogbonna, Pharm.D., dean of the VCU School of Pharmacy. "We need new facilities to attract new pharmaceutical partnerships and prepare the workforce."

Monica Swahn, Ph.D., dean of the VCU School of Public Health - which was established in July 2023, bringing the departments of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Health Policy, and Social and Behavioral Sciences together under a unified focus on public and population health - said that with the launch of new programs, current academic space is expected to be at capacity and the Altria center would help advance the school's mission to improve health, well-being and longevity for all populations through education, discovery, dissemination and co-learning with the communities VCU serves.

"The proximity of this facility to VCU Health System and VCU's health sciences programs - medicine, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, health professions - provides an unparalleled opportunity to catalyze the VCU School of Public Health's impact by bringing multiple disciplines together to address the most pressing public health challenges of our time," Swahn said.

Arturo P. Saavedra, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the VCU School of Medicine, said VCU's potential acquisition of the Altria building is "an opportunity to honor our commitment to healthy communities."

"The Altria building is necessary to honor our commitment to healthy communities. This strategically located facility in the heart of Richmond and proximal to VCU's centralized health sciences hub will provide a critical platform for research growth and discovery, and drive the economic engine of our mission to achieve its most important goal - saving lives," he said.