Boston attracts Bayer

Bayer opened the first Co.Lab life science incubator in Cambridge, MA, located in Kendall Square adjacent to the Bayer Research and Innovation Center (BRIC, photo), BlueRock Therapeutics and Leaps by Bayer, which is designed to provide “direct access to Bayer experts.”

Cell and gene therapy wanted

Co.Lab Cambridge was specifically designed to provide cell and gene therapy (CGT) entrepreneurs with access to Bayer’s company-wide expertise and state-of-the-art laboratory and office space.

“The opening of our Co.Lab Cambridge on the same site as the Bayer Research and Innovation Center will create an exceptional interdisciplinary community. Users will benefit from close proximity to industry-leading CGT pioneers, global research, development, manufacturing and investment expertise,” said Friedemann Janus, Deputy Head of Business Development and Open Innovation at Bayer Pharmaceuticals. “Co.Lab Cambridge provides the rich ecosystem that early-stage life science entrepreneurs need to make potentially life-changing discoveries for the future of healthcare and grow their businesses sustainably.”

With its 2,400 m2, Co.Lab Cambridge is also a new satellite of the LabCentral network, which was founded on the US East Coast by Johannes Frühauf, an exiled German. It now operates research labs at other locations, including the BioLabs facility (for example in Heidelberg). LabCentral is the official operator of the Bayer Incubator. The idea behind Co.Lab Cambridge is to benefit from the Kendall Square ecosystem of over 50 world-leading pharmaceutical companies, Harvard and MIT-affiliated research institutions, and high-profile venture capital and innovation offices. Bayer will also provide the opportunity to leverage Bayer’s cell therapy manufacturing programmes and access expertise related to industry-leading technologies.

Global innovation network

The global network of Co.Lab incubators targets some of the world’s leading innovation hotspots. Bayer’s Co.Labs will strategically form an innovation network across its sites in Berlin, Cambridge and Japan, and will also expand into China. “I am thrilled that this new life science incubator is coming to Cambridge and that Bayer recognises our community as the perfect place for cutting-edge research and entrepreneurship,” said Senator Sal DiDomenico. “This investment will spur economic development, create more jobs for my district and underscores Cambridge’s importance as an international centre for life sciences.”