New York City-based NYU Langone officially cut the ribbon on BioLabs@NYU Langone on Dec. 10, unveiling a new biotech co-working facility and incubator that aims to support innovative tech start-ups and keep them in New York.
San Francisco, Boston and San Diego are often considered hubs for biotech firms, and state and local governments invest heavily in building out those industries. Now, New York aims to do the same with this new initiative. Founding sponsors for the project include Bristol-Myers Squibb, New York City Economic Development Corp., Empire State Development and NYU Langone.
"At NYU Langone, we are a leader in translating what we do in medical research into new drugs, therapies and devices for patients, and the best way to do that is with companies," said Robert Schneider, PhD, associate dean for technology ventures and partnerships at NYU Langone Health. "We have spun out 130 companies in the past 10 years, but it has been heartbreaking to learn that most of those companies are in other places around the country now. We wanted to build an incubator for those companies so they could stay in New York."
BioLabs@NYU is a 50,000-square-foot facility that provides space for small startups of one or two people to larger companies preparing to launch their businesses. The incubator also supports the companies financially and with the equipment needed to bring their ideas to market. The equipment is included within space reservation, not a la carte as some other hubs. Staff at the incubator handle administrative tasks such as ordering and regulatory responsibilities.
Twenty-two companies have already reserved space at the incubator, which opened its doors four months ago, and it can handle 35 to 40 companies at any given time. Current tenants are utilizing deep learning and artificial intelligence to mine healthcare databases. Some companies are focused on immune-oncology, habituation or drug addiction while others focus on neuroscience. The startups venture outside of healthcare into the life sciences area as well, including projects to create artificial meatand new types of renewable fabrics. BioLabs@NYU also has a suite for high intensity computing, a feature added after the facility opened and realized the need.
"One of the companies, Black Diamond, just closed an $85 million deal, and they are officially a startup," said Dr. Schneider. "We reflect that range in the companies that come in. We interview them and understand their need to be capitalized. You'll see that the companies are interactive, which is what we want in an incubator. There have been several deals done already between the companies in our incubator already."
The companies have three to four years after acceptance into the incubator to evolve, become successful and move on. But Dr. Schneider noted that companies will need graduation space within that four-year timeframe, and the incubator is designed to be constantly reinvigorated.
"For companies that evolve out, there is tremendous activity in the New York region to build graduation space and be able to diversify and grow the New York City economy, provide high paying jobs and retain technology and expertise in New York," he said. New York scientists and physicians already receive more than $1 billion in biomedical research funding from the National Institutes of Health, a huge investment in the state.
The incubator is a 501c3 nonprofit entity and will allow physicians, scientists and entrepreneurs from all health systems and organizations to apply for space. It has taken more than four years and millions of dollars in funding to open the facility, but Dr. Schneider says the effort will be worth it.
"It takes a lot of courage and ability to accept the risk involved; it's a heavy lift in raising money, but also knowing that it's going to be some time before you are able to build a successful incubator and it can be revenue neutral," he said. "But there isn't another way to translate what we do for the benefit of patients. We discovered 300 years ago that magic doesn't work; we have to create products."