The New Jersey Bioscience Center in North Brunswick, formerly known as the Technology Centre of New Jersey — file photo
By Joshua Burd
The state Economic Development Authority has rebranded a well-known 50-acre research and incubator park in North Brunswick.
The agency on Thursday announced the debut of the newly named New Jersey Bioscience Center on Route 1, seeking to more accurately reflect the park’s focus on life sciences and the spectrum of companies located there. Formerly known as The Technology Centre of New Jersey, the complex is home to a mix of lab and office space for companies at all stages of growth, including incubator, post-incubator and independent research and development facilities.
The EDA is seeking to emphasize its support for entrepreneurial startups and rapidly growing life sciences R&D companies. The authority also noted that the Bioscience Center offers build-to-suit lab and office sites to accommodate larger, more established biopharmaceutical businesses seeking to benefit from the research park’s prime location between Rutgers and Princeton universities.
“From New Jersey’s highly talented workforce to our ideal location and proximity to more than a dozen pharmaceutical giants, life sciences companies of all sizes are finding immense value in locating at our facilities,” said Tim Sullivan, the authority’s CEO. “Rebranding the North Brunswick campus park under the New Jersey Bioscience Center umbrella will help us promote the research park’s available lab and office space to a national and international audience.”
In a news release, the EDA said the research park’s incubator and accelerator spaces have also been renamed to better align with the new brand. The spaces, formerly known as the Commercialization Center of Innovative Technologies and the Biotechnology Development Center, respectively, are now NJBC — Incubator at North Brunswick and NJBC — Step Out Labs at North Brunswick.
The 46,000-square-foot incubator offers 27 wet labs, the most of any incubator in the Garden State, the news release said. Currently home to 20 businesses, the facility includes both small and large labs, as well as offices, and provides tenant companies with educational programs and supporting resources such as help to identify funding sources and access to small business development resources, networking opportunities, and administrative support.
The space also offers discounted first-year rent for university drug-discovery spinouts, the EDA said. Startups moving to the NJBC — Incubator can apply for rent support through the authority’s NJ Ignite program.
The NJBC — Step Out Labs at North Brunswick opened in June 2018 and offers intermediate lab and office space for companies that have outgrown incubator space and other early-stage companies looking to expand, the news release said. The facility targets all subsectors of the biotechnology industry, with the goal of serving graduates of the NJBC — Incubator and other well-funded startups that are ready for intermediate space.
The accelerator space is home to six tenants, including China-based Adlai Nortye, which chose its New Jersey location as its United States headquarters.
