Bioinc@NYMC Celebrates Grand Opening of Expanded Space and Five-Year Anniversary with State and Local Leaders
Almost doubling in size, the expansion offers additional support to biotech start-ups and will increase the incubator’s economic impact in the Hudson Valley
Jennifer Riekert, M.B.A.
Vice President of Communications and Strategic Initiatives
New York Medical College
(914) 594-4552
jennifer_riekert@nymc.edu
Valhalla, NY – BioInc@NYMC, the fully-equipped biotechnology incubator, located on the New York Medical College (NYMC) campus in the mid-Hudson Valley, held a ribbon cutting on Wednesday, October 30 to celebrate its major expansion and mark the incubator’s five-year anniversary. New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins, Westchester County Executive George S. Latimer and New York State Assembly Member Thomas Abinanti attended the ribbon cutting alongside NYMC leadership and community members.
“When I first met Dr. Amler, he shared with me the College’s vision to create an incubator that would allow for biomedical innovation and creativity. What started as a vision grew into this incubator filled with nine biotech businesses, which has produced more than 40 new jobs and more than 30 new patents—and is now growing even bigger. What an amazing story for Westchester County and an incredible resource for this region,” said Senator Stewart-Cousins.
“The fundamental reality is that biotechnology is the future for our economy,” said County Executive Latimer. “In the same way prior generations in Westchester foresaw a County that was ahead of the game, creating the first parkway and first planned amusement park—I believe future generations will look back on this private sector partnership and say we got it right.”
“Progress depends on combining education, collaboration and innovation, which is the essence of BioInc,” said Assemblyman Tom Abinanti.
In a video message sent for the event, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer said, “I was there when BioInc first opened its doors five years ago. I was proud to support this great Hudson Valley initiative, and I’m even prouder to support it today as we embark on this exciting chapter together. Congratulations to all. The next five years, I am confidant, will be even better than these.”
The expanded space will allow the New York State-designated Innovation Hot Spot to incubate up to 20 additional companies at the forefront of medical innovation and provide tenants additional resources to support their growth. BioInc@NYMC previously occupied a 10,000-square-foot wing; the expansion will add an additional 9,500 square feet to the incubator. BioInc’s additional space will allow for new offices, conference rooms, shared-space desks and collaboration/event space for seminars.
“BioInc is an important part of the Mid-Hudson region’s thriving life science industry, and ESD was happy to support the center’s groundbreaking work fostering innovative companies with capital grant funds from the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council,” said Empire State Development Acting Commissioner and President & CEO-designate Eric Gertler. “We congratulate BioInc on its latest expansion and look forward to seeing the center provide a home to even more companies.”
Empire State Development and the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council provided $4 million in capital grants for BioInc’s initial construction in 2013 and more than $641,000 for its expansion in 2014. BioInc also received $3.2 million from the GenNYsis program and was designated an Innovation Hot Spot from 2015 to 2017, renewed for an additional 5 years, through 2022, for a total of $2 million.
Since launching in October 2014, BioInc@NYMC has created more than 54 jobs and supported nine start-up companies, including MediSprout, a telehealth company which provides a platform for virtual doctor visits, Affina Biotechnologies, a drug discovery startup, and Sapience Therapeutics, which develops therapeutics to address difficult-to-treat cancers. Collectively, clients in the incubator have filed 33 patents, of which 18 patents have been issued to date. The incubator’s economic impact (which includes investment into and capital spending by its startups, as well as any cost savings received by startups as a result of being part of the incubator), is estimated to be in excess of $16 million.
“The biomedical sciences in the United States, Great Britain, France and Canada are successful examples of how partnership of university, governments and private enterprise, with thoughtful innovation, has produced the most rapid progress in biomedical sciences in the history of the world. ‘Prove it’ you say? Anesthesia, antisepsis, insulin, solid and liquid organ transplants, MRI scans, proton and ion therapies for cancer to name a few,” said Edward C. Halperin, M.D., M.A., chancellor and chief executive officer of NYMC. “Shortly after my arrival here seven years ago, we collectively committed ourselves to creating a home on this campus for biomedical companies, where the best and the brightest ideas would be brought to us for possible commercialization. For the past 159 years since the College’s inception and the past five years for the incubator, I can say collectively, we have an honorable past, a great present and an exciting future.”
“Over the past five years, we’ve been able to provide promising start-ups the resources they need to successfully develop life-changing medical technology,” said Deborah Novick, director of BioInc@NYMC. “The facility has been filled to capacity, helping to drive an expansion that will allow the incubator to recruit more companies and better support existing companies. All of the incubator’s companies, both new and old, will have the opportunity to thrive in an environment designed for cutting-edge research and collaborative innovation.”
Barry Kappel, Ph.D., M.B.A., president, CEO and director of Sapience Therapeutics a BioInc client, said, “We are thankful to BioInc for the home and community it provides Sapience Therapeutics. The flexibility afforded at BioInc has allowed us to remain right-sized as our organization and needs have grown from a single lab bench to multiple laboratories. We could not have achieved the scientific advances we have over the past few years without the resources and support of BioInc.
“BioInc has been the home for my three startups, Retia Medical, MOE Medical Devices and DigiTouch Health, for the past three years. We are grateful for the support from the BioInc as well as the extended New York Medical College community, which has provided us access to excellent facilities and superior researchers for collaboration, that has enabled us to attract investment, grow rapidly and achieve major milestones such as FDA clearance,” said Mark Zemel, S.M., M.B.A., founder and CEO of DigiTouch, Retia Medical, MOE Medical Devices.
Appearing in the photo are from left: Meghan Taylor, vice president and regional director, Mid-Hudson, Empire State Development; Robert W. Amler, M.D., M.B.A., dean of the School of Health Sciences and Practice and vice president for government affairs, NYMC; Laurence Gottlieb, managing director, life sciences and health technologies, Robert Martin Company, LLC; Salomon Amar, D.D.S., Ph.D., vice president of research at NYMC and provost for biomedical research and chief biomedical research officer for Touro College and University System; Deborah Novick, director of BioInc@NYMC; Barry Kappel, Ph.D., M.B.A., president, chief executive officer and director of Sapience Therapeutics, a BioInc client; Edward C. Halperin, M.D., M.A., chancellor and chief executive officer, NYMC; New York State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins; Mike Oates, president and chief executive officer, Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation; Bridget Gibbons, director of economic development, Westchester County; Tito Davila, representing the office of New York State Senator Pete Harckham; Thomas Abinanti, New York State assembly member; and Jerry L. Nadler, M.D., MACP, FAHA, FACE, dean of the School of Medicine, NYMC.
About New York Medical College
Founded in 1860, New York Medical College (NYMC) is one of the oldest and largest health sciences colleges in the country with nearly 1,500 students and 330 residents and clinical fellows, more than 2,600 faculty members and 23,500 living alumni. The College, which joined the Touro College and University System in 2011, is located in Westchester County, New York, and offers degrees from the School of Medicine, the Graduate School of Basic Medical Sciences, the School of Health Sciences and Practice, the Touro College of Dental Medicine at NYMC and the Touro College School of Health Sciences’ nursing program at NYMC. NYMC provides a wide variety of clinical training opportunities for students, residents, and practitioners.