Can Northern Virginia’s current economic malaise be cured by investments in “personalized medicine”?
     
Gov. Terry McAuliffe thinks so, and he’s putting his personal efforts behind making it happen. Personalized medicine uses the genetic information of each patient to develop a personalized treatment plan.
 When ExxonMobil relocated headquarters staff from its Merrifield campus in Fairfax, and negotiations with Inova Hospital to acquire the property stalled, Virginia’s business-savvy governor was on the telephone to CEO Rex Tillerson pushing the corporation to make a deal with Inova for its abandoned facilities.          
   
For years, Inova’s CEO Knox Singleton had been building support for his vision of transforming Northern Virginia’s largest “community healthcare system” into a biotech powerhouse with world-class, personalized medicine research, education and treatment.
At a press conference on February 9, Singleton announced that the health system will lease the former Exxon Mobil campus, which is located across the street from its Merrifield flagship hospital, for the next 99 years with the right of first refusal to acquire the property. With its existing genome-based Inova Translational Medicine Institute (ITMI) and its Inova Comprehensive Cancer and Research Institute (ICCRI), Inova plans to expand this campus into the Inova Center for Personalized Medicine. 
     
“This Center will be on the cutting edge of health-care delivery, and it will be at the very heart of the new Virginia economy,” Gov. McAuliffe predicted. 
Inova’s move could provide an economic shot in the arm for Virginia, which has been suffering from a significant reduction in federal spending since 2011.  The loss of thousands of federal jobs is hampering the growth of Northern Virginia’s commercial property market.
   
 “If you really want to attract world-class doctors and create global visibility, it sort of starts with having visibility and primacy of location in the Washington, D.C. area,” Gov. McAuliffe explained. “We think this is probably one of the premier locations on the East Coast.” 

“This Center will be on the cutting edge of health-care delivery, and it will be at the very heart of the new Virginia economy.”

In a press release that announced the news, Gerald L. Gordon, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, noted that the Center will dramatically accelerate FCEDA’s goal to further diversify the economic base of the county. “We’ve been working to attract, retain, and grow the county’s non-government contracting economy for several years. This announcement places Fairfax County in a leadership position in the growth of the nascent industry of translational medicine.”
     
“The enormity of this announcement is almost indescribable,” said Gordon. “This campus will make Fairfax County a hub for world-class research and the commercialization of ground-breaking discoveries. New companies will grow as a result, and more world-class researchers and businesses will want to be here.”
Brian Hays, project director for the planned center, observed, “With five Northern Virginia hospitals, and various research and other facilities in the region, Inova has the resources to attract the best medical talent in the world. We also have highly educated patients who seek out the best medical treatment available.”   
     
Though the campus sits on 117 acres, 92 acres remain in their natural state, shielding the facilities with trees, and secluding them from surrounding neighborhoods. Describing the property in the Washington Post on November 17, 2013, Jonathan O’Connell reported that “in the center are four connected office buildings built in two phases, one in 1979 and the other in 1989, plus a services building. Though the offices, which total 1.2 million square feet, don’t feature the floor-to-ceiling glass and 360-degree views that newer buildings might, there are many features that corporate users typically appreciate. Among them: more than 60 conference rooms, nine-foot ceilings, a 736-seat cafeteria, a gym, a swimming pool and a corporate board room featuring a lustrous beechwood table.”
   
Inova will invest an additional $400 million to renovate the existing facilities to accommodate medical usage, and to grow the health system into a destination international medical center, with the potential to attract resources and funding from around the world.
“It is critical for us to be financially self-supporting as we go along,” Hays noted. “The hospital intends to gain self-sufficiency through support from commercial, foundation and government sources for its research and services.” 
       
At the announcement, Gov. McAuliffe told reporters that Virginia had not been asked for funding, and he did not expect to provide it. “This is all being done privately, which is great,” he said. “Bet the house on the fact that it’s a certainty, that they will be able to raise the financing.” The Commonwealth has sent signals, however, that it is prepared to play an active role in stimulating the successful creation of a biotech research nucleus in Northern Virginia.

“We’re likely to see more development as we move along, injecting millions of dollars into the local economy, making the center more integrated into local communities and encouraging further commercial developments in the area with technology transfers and research partnerships,” predicts Hays.     
Also critical will be Inova’s ability to co-operate with the growing medical care infrastructure in the area. 

While Inova aims to operate at the same level as the Mayo Clinic and other major health providers, the Virginia Hospital Center has taken a different approach – collaborating with the Mayo Clinic. It has joined 32 other hospitals in 19 states, Puerto Rico and Mexico as part of the Mayo Clinic Care Network. 

"The Commonwealth has sent signals, however, that it is prepared to play an active role in stimulating the successful creation of a biotech research nucleus in Northern Virginia."

Announcing the new collaboration on February 5, James Cole, president and CEO of the Arlington-based hospital, explained that they would be gaining access to Mayo Clinic knowledge and expertise while continuing to offer patient care close to home, at no additional patient cost. “The results of our working with the Mayo Clinic will be enhanced care, greater peace of mind and greater value for our patients and their families,” Cole said.

Repeatedly ranked as one of the 100 best hospitals in the country, the Virginia Hospital Center will be the only Mayo Clinic Care Network hospital in the Washington area. “We are excited to explore its potential for our patients and the community,” Cole explained. 

“This collaboration advances our mission ‘To Be the Best Health System’,” Cole said. “The best just keeps getting better.”
Among the resources the affiliation brings to the Virginia Hospital Center is access to its own “individualized medicine” program based on Mayo’s genetic research. In addition, the hospital is asking Arlington County to consider a land swap that would give it a five-acre parcel of county property adjacent to its current facility to expand the hospital. In exchange, the hospital is offering to trade an 11-acre parcel it owns on Carlin Springs Road, also in Arlington County. 

George Mason University has also been involved in personalized medicine research, and recently its president, Angel Cabrera, Ph.D., announced plans to invest $40 million in its Advanced Biomedical Research building at the renamed Science and Technology Campus in Manassas, signaling GMU’s expansion in genomics and precision medicine research.      

Attending an announcement with Cabrera on April 23, Gov. McAuliffe noted, "The GMU campus will create jobs and drive economic growth, but more importantly, the work taking place there will improve lives, cure disease and benefit us all.”

Inova is rapidly expanding its current cooperative research programs with George Mason to fill a prominent role in the new Center, which already houses the Center for Applied Proteomics (the large-scale study of proteins, particularly their structures and functions) and molecular medicine. Its researchers are studying proteomics cancer treatments, Lyme disease, nanotechnology-based diagnostics and infectious diseases.

Other medical providers throughout the area, including the George Washington University Hospital and the National Institutes of Health, are also expanding their research and development in medical care.

“This area will become like Boston or New York… a world center for advanced medical research and treatment,” Hays predicts.