NYC has big plans for life sciences

New York City is set to ramp up its life sciences position through a $150 million public-private partnership and increasing research and development space by 150 percent.

Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen and New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) President Kyle Kimball announced the expansion and launch of the Early-Stage Life Sciences Funding Initiative, a public-private partnership to strengthen the city’s economy and newly position New York City as a global capital for life sciences innovation, to result in both thousands of new jobs and pioneering medical innovations for patients.

The initial funding goal was exceeded by $50 million including $10 million in anchor funding from NYCEDC and leveraged with capital from industry partners and managed by leading venture capital partners. The Funding Initiative will identify and invest in the most promising research generated by the city’s academic medical institutions and leading entrepreneurs, creating and growing companies working on the leading edge of life sciences advances, according to a release.

The project leverages NYCEDC funding with capital from industry partners Celgene Corporation, GE Ventures and Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly). Two top tier venture capital firms, Flagship Ventures and ARCH Venture Partners, will manage separate investment activities within the Funding Initiative and will each establish a presence in New York City. Flagship Ventures will direct investment activities in therapeutics, while ARCH Venture Partners will pursue investment activities in non-therapeutics. The Funding Initiative will bring catalytic investment to support the launch of new businesses that are collectively expected to create 2,000 direct jobs by 2020, and more broadly accelerate the growth of New York City’s life sciences ecosystem, which includes therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics, research and development instrumentation and the digital life sciences.

To combat a low stock of R&D laboratory space, the city will redevelop a 14-story, city-owned building into a bioscience research center with plans to house 100,000 square feet of new wet lab space. The city is working to identify more opportunities to increase life science lab space.

“Innovation remains the central driver for creating transformative medicines for patients," said Thomas Daniel, MD, Celgene's executive vice president of research and early development. "Building environments capable of fostering innovation has never been more critical than during this emerging period of breakthroughs and technological promise. “The exceptional life sciences ecosystem in the New York City area offers fertile opportunity for rewards from catalytic investment coupled with cooperation and vision.”