HARRISBURG, March 19 - State Sen. Jim Ferlo (D-Pittsburgh) today announced that he will continue his commitment to Biotechnology investment and research by introducing legislation in the Senate to create the Jonas Salk Legacy Fund.

“The creation of the Salk Legacy Fund would put Pennsylvania at the forefront of Biotechnology research,” Ferlo said. “Not only will this attract and retain high level researchers in our state, but this $500 million investment will help to accelerate the rate of medical breakthroughs.”

The Jonas Salk Legacy fund is named after the late Dr. Jonas Salk. His work at the University of Pittsburgh led to the introduction of a polio vaccine in 1955 that wiped out the disease in the United States.

In 1955, Lawrenceville’s Arsenal Elementary School was the site of Salk’s first polio vaccination success.

Ferlo said the Salk Legacy Fund would build on Pennsylvania’s strengths in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, and because all grants must be matched on a dollar-for-dollar basis, the fund would actually leverage $1 billion in new investment in the biosciences with no cost to taxpayers.

The $500 million investment would also help the state’s research universities and medical research centers commercialize new products and create new life science companies.

“I am honored to be introducing the enabling legislation for Governor Rendell’s cutting-edge initiative,” Senator Ferlo said. “Not satisfied to manage decline, his progressive technology agenda invests aggressively in the future.”

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