put new real estate plans into action now given the recent influx of early-stage life science investors like Flagship Ventures, Arch Venture Partners, and Versant Ventures. Arch and Flagship back the NYCEDC’s $150 million life sciences fund, and Versant has set up an outpost in Chelsea to start biotechs. Those firms have added to the momentum in New York’s biotech scene, but it’s a fragile momentum, as outgoing Rockefeller University president Marc Tessier-Lavigne noted at the NewYorkBio meeting.
“It can’t be too difficult to overcome [the real estate] hurdle,” he said. “If it is, we’ll find that the people who’ve been drawn here to start things will pack up their bags and go back to places where it’s easier to do it.”
Presumably LaunchLabs will help. One of the big pluses for LaunchLabs is its location. The Alexandria Center is right next to NYU Langonne Medical Center and a few subway stops from some of the other research institutions on New York City’s East Side, like Rockefeller and Weill Cornell Medical College. Some of the recent startups to emerge from Rockefeller and Weill Cornell—like Lodo Therapeutics and Petra Pharma, both formed by Accelerator Corp.—are housed within Accelerator’s office in the Alexandria Center.
“Nothing like this exists in New York City,” Marcus says. “The platform is fully integrated and offers unparalleled opportunities for collaboration and growth in a prime location.”
Check out these stories for more on New York’s biotech scene, the recent momentum, and the challenges ahead.
