Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC has opened JLABS @ Toronto, a new 40,000-square-foot life sciences incubator, providing entrepreneurs and early-stage companies shared lab space and offices, modular lab suites, and access to scientific, industry, and capital-funding experts.

The new JLABS facility can accommodate up to 50 startups and opens with 22 companies that represent a range of sectors, including therapeutics, medical devices and consumer health solutions. This first group of resident startups includes the seven winners of the JLABS @ Toronto Quick Fire Challenge, which awards promising early-stage innovation companies with residency at the facility.

JLABS supports entrepreneurs by helping them overcome common barriers to discovery and development, such as the large initial investment of time and money that is necessary to establish working labs and other business infrastructures. JLABS @ Toronto builds on the JLABS model and is the sixth JLABS facility to open and the first outside of the United States. JLABS @ Toronto joins a network of JLABS sites throughout North America in life science clusters, including San Diego (flagship), San Francisco, South San Francisco, Boston and Houston. These facilities are currently home to more than 120 early-stage companies advancing bio/pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer and digital health programs. The six JLABS facilities have a total capacity for 225 resident companies.

JLABS @ Toronto is located at MaRS Discovery District and is a collaboration between Johnson & Johnson Innovation LLC, the University of Toronto, MaRS Discovery District, Janssen Inc., MaRS Innovation and the Government of Ontario, and includes the following hospital partners: Center for Addiction and Mental Health, the Hospital for Sick Children, Sinai Health System, St. Michael's Hospital, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, and University Health Network.

JLABS @ Toronto will feature a device and digital prototype lab that will provide entrepreneurs access to highly specialized tools, as well as skill-building programs to design and develop smart health technologies. Resident companies at JLABS @ Toronto also have the opportunity to collaborate with IBM Canada to access its entrepreneurship programs and services, including IBM Watson cognitive business technology and IBM Bluemix cloud-based development platform.

Source: Johnson & Johnson