Should the ambitious plan become reality, construction of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's 21st Century Biodefense Center could transform Allegheny County into the vaccine production center for the nation.

Long described as the steel city, Pittsburgh could refashion its economy around vaccine production to counter pandemics and bioterrorist attacks, UPMC officials said.

Detailed yesterday during a Senate subcommittee hearing in the federal courthouse, Downtown, UPMC's plan calls for construction of an $830 million biodefense center, possibly at the site of the former Pittsburgh airport passenger terminal in Moon, although other locations are being considered.

The facility could begin operations within four years and would employ 1,000 in high-tech, high-paying jobs, and create another 6,000 indirect jobs, officials said.

"We are already seeing growing recognition that biological weapons and naturally occurring pandemics represent a grave risk to the health of the populace and to the continued economic recovery of this nation," said Jeffrey A. Romoff, UPMC president and chief executive officer, who was one of six men to testify during the subcommittee hearing.

He said traditional response to pandemics and bioterrorism failed to yield timely, desired results. That point was echoed by government and health experts who've studied the nation's ability to respond quickly and effectively to health emergencies.

If the U.S. government funds the project, and UPMC wins the contract, "21CB," as UPMC calls the facility, would operate under a public-private partnership with government. The focus would be vaccines and medicines to counter pandemics and bioterrorism, especially those that private producers are reluctant to produce because of costs and low volumes.

U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., held the subcommittee hearing with U.S. Rep. Jason Altmire, D-McCandless, also participating to announce the project and gather testimony about it.

UPMC's plan calls for the U.S. government to provide $580 million toward construction of the 21CB facility, with UPMC being responsible for $250 million.

Once in place, the center likely would attract related industrial spin-offs to the region.

During the hearing, Mr. Romoff and Mr. Specter said 21CB's generation of 7,000 initial jobs would swell by a factor of 10, potentially bringing 70,000 new jobs to southwestern Pennsylvania.

"Not in five years, but in 10 or more," Mr. Romoff said.

Adoption of the project "would help maintain the U.S. industry in biomanufacturing -- an industry that has provided excellent jobs but has been steadily moving overseas and will continue to do so unless U.S. policy changes," he said.

The partnership could produce medicines and vaccines "more quickly, more reliably, with less risk and at less cost to the government," he said.

The U.S. departments of Defense and Health and Human Services must first agree that the project represents the best strategy to close gaps in the current system of vaccination production.

Congress then must fund the project through appropriations or passage of a bill Mr. Specter said he'll introduce in September. If the project is funded, UPMC would submit a bid to operate the facility. Competition is expected from medical centers in Texas, North Dakota and elsewhere, Mr. Specter said.

Congress also could opt to fund several vaccine-production centers rather than one.

Mr. Specter said Congress could provide funding by year's end. If so, UPMC would have a clear head-start in the bidding process.

Mr. Specter said UPMC also has "a unique advantage" in being one of the nation's largest medical centers with close association with the University of Pittsburgh, which has done extensive vaccine research.

UPMC, a nonprofit medical center, is the largest employer in Western Pennsylvania with 50,000 employees.

The H1N1 outbreak last spring, Mr. Specter said, proved the urgent need for a public-private partnership to produce vaccines quickly, efficiently and under government direction.

Only 45 million doses of H1N1 vaccine will be available by Oct. 15, rather than the 120 million doses government said would be needed, he said.

The economic damage and health impact of the 2001 anthrax attack that killed five people and the 2002 SARS outbreak in Asia point to other advantages of having top scientists in a dedicated facility ready to produce safe, effective vaccines under tight deadlines.

UPMC's proposed facility would have eight vaccine-producing suites, each equipped with resources and staff to create new vaccines or medical solutions to counter immediate health threats facing the nation.

Each suite could produce a different vaccine. Production could be stopped and redirected should another pandemic or act of bioterrorism occur. Disposable plastic equipment developed by GE Healthcare would be used, then discarded after the vaccine is produced in needed quantities.

"If we are called to get it up and running, we could produce a vaccine in a matter of weeks to months, as opposed to the current standard where a separate building must be built for a separate vaccine," said Dr. Donald Burke, dean of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. "We could cut the process from years to months."

The 21CB would operated as a not-for-profit facility under HHS supervision, and could produce vaccines for anthrax, smallpox, the plague, ricin contamination and the Ebola virus, among other threatening infections.

Under a previous government contract, UPMC already has studied solutions to combating bioterrorism.

Its report, "A New Model for Protection," noted that recent events, including the H1N1 influenza pandemic and past problems with anthrax and SARS, prove that "the emergence of an infectious disease creates cascading effects on a nation's public health, national security and economy."

It states that preparedness can mitigate the impacts of infectious disease, whether they are man-made or natural.

"UPMC proposes a flexible, multi-product facility that can reduce drug development and production costs to the U.S. government by 80 percent, compared to the current approach," the report states.

UPMC proposes a fast-track schedule for 21CB with completion of design by year's end and construction completed by 2012.

Under that schedule, the facility could go into operation as early as 2013.