INDIANAPOLIS — A new biomedical business incubator created to help life sciences entrepreneurs bring their discoveries to market — and to patient care — will mark its official opening Tuesday in downtown Indianapolis.
The Indiana Center for Biomedical Innovation is located in the former Methodist Research Institute at IU Health Methodist Hospital, which has been updated with modern laboratories and other research resources, collaboration spaces and support services.
“ICBI will be a unique place for entrepreneurial researchers to transform their ideas and discoveries into products,” said Jaipal Singh, Ph.D., director of the ICBI. “It is not simply a building where you incubate your startup. It’s a collaborative ecosystem bringing entrepreneurs, life science experts and investors together.”
The center is joint effort supported by the Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana University Health, the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute and a partner initiative to the already-established IU School of Medicine’s Industry Collaboration Program.
“This center, along with the IU Research and Technology Corporation, will now create a seamless mechanism for IU innovations to be easily commercialized,” said Dean Jay L. Hess, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the IU School of Medicine and IU vice president for university clinical affairs.
“We believe this will be platform for translation of laboratory discoveries that will ultimately improve health and patient care,” said Anantha Shekhar, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Indiana CTSI and executive associate dean for research affairs at the IU School of Medicine.
The Indiana Center for Biomedical Innovation has assembled an advisory council of life sciences leaders and entrepreneurs to provide guidance, mentorship and networks to entrepreneurial faculty, postdoctoral students, grad students and life sciences startup companies. The center also will facilitate access to funding for translational research and technology development from academic labs.
Eight startup companies are the initial tenants at the center, including businesses building on discoveries focusing on post traumatic stress disorder, emphysema, stroke, heart disease, cancer, regenerative medicine and pulmonary embolism.