The 775-acre Speros campus off Ridge Road in Land O' Lakes has a new ambition: helping position Tampa Bay as a national hub for radiopharmaceutical manufacturing.

Moffitt Cancer Center and a coalition of Tampa Bay institutions announced the Florida Oncology and Radiopharmaceutical Growth Engine, or FORGE, on May 27. The coalition projects $2.6 billion in statewide economic impact and 4,000 high-wage jobs over the next decade.

No capital has been committed, no companies have signed on and no development budget has been disclosed.

FORGE brings together Moffitt, Speros, the University of South Florida, Pasco-Hernando State College and startup accelerator Embarc Collective. The coalition wants companies to move from drug discovery through production and clinical use entirely on the Speros campus, according to Tampa Bay Business & Wealth. Planned components include a radiopharmaceutical incubator, an integrated theranostics center, imaging technologist training at PHSC and nuclear pharmacy programs at USF.

Moffitt said those programs will proceed as funding and support are secured. Florida Trend separately described FORGE as a regional coalition for building a $2.6 billion radiopharmaceutical ecosystem.

Why Radioactive Decay Makes Location Critical

Radiopharmaceuticals use radioactive material that binds to tumors. The isotopes begin decaying the moment they are produced, making proximity between production and patients important for some treatments. That constraint is central to FORGE's pitch: co-locating production with Moffitt's clinical operations at Speros could shorten the path from lab to bedside for cancer patients.

The $1 Billion Already Committed to the Campus

The Speros campus has more than $1 billion in committed capital behind its broader buildout. The nearly 120,000-square-foot Moffitt Speros Outpatient Center began treating patients Jan. 26. The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation Proton Center, funded by a $15 million gift from Best Buy founder Dick Schulze, opened in late July as the Tampa Bay region's first proton therapy center. The 250,000-square-foot Moffitt Discovery and Innovation Center is expected to open in October.

Pasco County commissioners approved roughly $25 million in infrastructure assistance for the campus's first phase through the Penny for Pasco program, according to a 2021 Pasco Economic Development Council announcement.

Josh Carpenter, Speros president and chief integration officer, said at the proton center's July ribbon-cutting that the campus aims to "compress the distance between concept to cure."

What FORGE Hasn't Disclosed: Funding, Partners or a Timeline

Neither the $2.6 billion figure nor the 4,000-job projection represents money committed or hiring announced. No companies have been identified as preparing to establish operations at Speros under FORGE, and no investors have been disclosed. The announcement names no timeline for when capital commitments or company signings are expected. The methodology behind the projections has not been made public.

The campus's full multiphase plan, outlined in that 2021 Pasco EDC release, projected more than 1.4 million square feet of lab, manufacturing and office space and 14,500 total jobs across all phases. That broader figure predates and dwarfs FORGE's 4,000-job projection.

What's Next for Nearby Residents

Residents along the State Road 56 and Suncoast corridors live minutes from the campus. The next concrete milestone is the Discovery and Innovation Center's expected October opening, with Phase 1 completion targeted for 2028.