NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — RWJBarnabas Health is putting up $5 million to help bankroll New Jersey life sciences startups, part of a new $10 million investment fund aimed at moving medical discoveries from the laboratory into patient care.
The health system’s commitment comes as RWJBarnabas continues expanding its presence in Bergen County, including its planned acquisition of Englewood Hospital. RWJBarnabas also has a paramedic program partnership with Bergen Hatzalah that began just over a year ago, giving the health system a growing connection to Bergen County’s emergency medical community.
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority approved a commitment of up to $5 million toward the fund during a special board meeting Thursday. RWJBarnabas will match that commitment as the exclusive health care partner to the investment fund, which will be managed by Portal Innovations.
The fund will target startups focused on drug discovery and translational medicine operating out of the New Jersey Innovation Hub, Powered by Portal, at the New Jersey Health & Life Science Exchange in New Brunswick.
The 30,000-square-foot Innovation Hub officially opened in July at the state Strategic Innovation Center. The facility includes laboratory and office space, wet and dry labs, conference facilities and other amenities designed to support emerging life sciences companies.
The goal is to help startups take promising discoveries and move them toward actual patient care.
“We see this collaboration with the NJEDA and Portal Innovations as a direct expression of Gov. [Mikie] Sherrill’s vision for a more competitive, innovation-driven New Jersey — one where economic growth and improved health outcomes advance hand in hand,” said George Helmy, executive vice president and chief corporate affairs officer of RWJBarnabas Health.
“This strategic investment allows us to walk alongside entrepreneurs from their earliest ideas through clinical application, ensuring that life sciences innovation translates into better outcomes for the patients and communities we serve.”
The public-private partnership behind the Innovation Hub includes NJEDA, RWJBarnabas, Rutgers University, Hackensack Meridian Health, Johnson & Johnson, DEVCO and Middlesex County.
Portal Innovations founder and CEO John Flavin called the up to $10 million commitment a “seminal moment for life sciences innovation in the state.”
The Chicago-based venture capital firm operates the Innovation Hub and has supported more than 90 startups across its national network in areas including medtech, diagnostics and data sciences.
“These funds represent an important commitment to giving New Jersey startups the resources they need to reach their next milestones and build on the momentum already underway in the state’s life sciences ecosystem,” Flavin said.
BioNJ President and CEO Debbie Hart called the investment “especially encouraging,” citing growing competition from other states and countries seeking to attract biomedical companies and talent.
The New Jersey Innovation Hub launched with 16 founding members and occupies the first of three towers planned for HELIX NJ in New Brunswick.