University of Pittsburgh Medical Center proposes to create the world's leading biologics development and manufacturing facility by 2013 in Allegheny County to enhance the nation's vaccine-producing abilities.

UPMC's proposal would include developing and manufacturing vaccines and other medical solutions critical to national security in quick and cost-effective fashion to counter pandemics or acts of bioterrorism.

Tomorrow, Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., will hold a field hearing Downtown to examine the current United States system for manufacturing vaccines and consider UPMC's proposal. The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee Field Hearing on U.S. vaccine preparedness will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the U.S. Courthouse, Courtroom 6A, at 700 Grant St.

Although details won't be confirmed until tomorrow's hearing, UPMC hopes the government will fund the project. UPMC then would submit a bid to build and operate a facility in Allegheny County that would generate numerous high-tech jobs and economic advantages to the region.

The hearing will include UPMC President and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey A. Romoff and experts in the field of vaccines, including Dr. Donald Burke, director of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

Vaccines to treat pandemics and bioterrorism cannot be produced cheaply or efficiently, given the current system of pharmaceutical companies that produce vaccines with an eye toward selling them for a profit for many years.

In the past eight years, problems with anthrax, SARS and the recent H1N1 influenza outbreak have highlighted the need for a facility that can act quickly to produce vaccines and medical countermeasures, officials said.

UPMC, which has been studying the concept and preparing for the project for years, is scheduled to announce details of its proposal tomorrow, including cost and job-creation numbers and how it would establish and operate the facility.