New York to build US$500 million biotech hub

New York City is building a biotech hub to rival South San Francisco and Boston, backed by a US$500 million finance package and a goal to quadruple the amount of R&D space in the city. 

The centrepiece of the plan is a US$100 million investment by the city in a life science campus. Officials envisage the site serving as an institutional anchor for the New York biotech community while also providing a space for entrepreneurial training and R&D partnerships. The city is offering US$300 million in tax incentives to encourage investment in commercial lab space. These tax breaks will carry the burden of assessing the long- standing shortage of space for biotech startups in the city. 

Half of the remaining US$100 million of the finance package is earmarked for investment in nonprofit research facilities. These investments are intended to help New York City’s existing institutions create spaces where their research can advance towards commercialisation. 

The city has set itself targets against which to measure the success of its efforts, Forbes reports. Officials want to quadruple the amount of R&D space by 2026. Hitting that goal would result in the city having 4,000,000ft2 of lab space. The city also aims to boost National Institute of Health funding by 30%, quadruple annual investment in biotech and grow the number of commercial research jobs by 20%.