This Wealthy Virginia Family Is Helping Make the State a Biotech Hub

Officials expect a new research institute at the University of Virginia will attract biotech firms. Photo: ImagineerInc/shutterstock

The University of Virginia recently announced big philanthropic news: a $100 million gift from Paul and Diane Manning to establish a new biotechnology research institute at the Charlottesville-based public university. The donation didn’t come out of nowhere. For more than a decade, the Mannings have been increasingly important philanthropic supporters of health research at UVA, as well as other community causes in the Charlottesville area.

The Mannings, who have two children with diabetes, have focused in particular on supporting research to treat and cure both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. They’ve given several million dollars over the last decade and a half to fund early research initiatives. But the family’s $100 million commitment to UVA, which establishes the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology, aims to contribute to a broader range of health and medical research using some of the most cutting-edge technologies currently under exploration, including cellular and gene therapies with the potential to transform care for a range of diseases. Among the many potential medical advances biotech offers is the development of personalized medicine and targeted therapies that could help people with cancer and rare diseases for which there are currently no effective treatments for all patients.

The Mannings’ biotech institute gift was matched by $150 million from the university’s own coffers, and another $50 million from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Officials from the university and state government note that in addition to expected research and health advances, the biotech facility will attract more pharmaceutical companies to the state and the region, directly generating hundreds of jobs in central Virginia, and perhaps thousands more indirectly. In addition to research and manufacturing, the facility will also be a hub for translational research — efforts to deliver discoveries in the laboratory to real people with pressing healthcare needs. Going forward, it’ll also be a place where Virginians can go to receive the newest biotech-based treatments.

Deploying a healthcare fortune

The Mannings’ biotech gift and their previous support for diabetes research at UVA are not a complete surprise, and not only because their two kids have diabetes. Paul Manning had long been an entrepreneur in the healthcare industry, founding several companies. But he started making serious bucks after his company PBM Products grew to become the world’s leading provider of private-label infant formula to retail stores. Following the sale of PBM Products to pharmaceutical company Perrigo in 2010 for more than $800 million, Manning launched PBM Capital, which invests in healthcare and life sciences companies developing new treatments and drugs. Some of its portfolio companies have gone public and/or been acquired by big pharma companies.

Meanwhile, Manning has been heavily involved with UVA, serving on the board of UVA’s Strategic Planning Committee, the board of UVA Health Foundation, and the board of the President’s Advisory Committee.

The Mannings’ previous funding for diabetes research at UVA has already shown results. Their early support jumpstarted research to develop a wearable artificial pancreas that automatically tracks blood sugar levels and releases insulin as needed, allowing users to eat and live their lives more normally and without the endless injections of insulin that both kids and adults with type 1 diabetes must endure.

In a way, it’s been an illustration of the ideal model of philanthropic dollars at work in health and science research, in that early efforts funded by the Mannings eventually attracted more support from the NIH and other sources. Results are real: Three years ago, the FDA approved the artificial pancreas device for use. The Mannings have also given for diabetes research beyond UVA.

Note that the Mannings have a family foundation: Its 2020 form 990 showed about $287 million in assets and charitable disbursements of about $9 million. The Manning Family Foundation’s website is pretty spare, with just a bit of background on some of the causes the foundation supports, including a Charlottesville-area camp for kids with medical and other special needs; support for Monticello, the historic home of founding father Thomas Jefferson and a World Heritage Site; and support for suicide prevention and awareness resources in the region. Some of the foundation’s most recent gifts to UVA on record include support for medical education and school-based care, and support for the university’s children’s hospital.

However, the family foundation does openly invite queries from grantseekers, outlining what appears to be a straightforward email application process, requiring, for example, the amount of funding needed, a brief description of the program or project, how success will be measured, and the primary organizations and people involved, along with budgets, timelines and other basic information. While it’s not clear whether their big biotech gift is a sign the Mannings are ready to ramp things up in other areas, they’re definitely donors that nonprofits in the region should keep track of, particularly in the health space.