J&J scouts for 50 Bay biotechs with new Janssen incubator

South San Francisco--Courtesy of BART

Johnson & Johnson's ($JNJ) Janssen arm is planning to open another biotech incubator, this time setting its sights on South San Francisco in hopes of finding a few promising drug developers.

The new operation, dubbed Janssen Labs @South San Francisco, will be a 30,000-square-foot mix of lab and office space with room for up to 50 startups, J&J said. Mirroring Janssen's flagship San Diego incubator, the new facility will be staffed by some of J&J's biotech brains and provide operational support, education and business services to its guest companies. 

Since setting up shop in San Diego in 2012, Janssen Labs has expanded to host 53 life sciences companies through an outpost in Cambridge, MA, and the use of J&J's San Francisco innovation center. With its latest facility, slated to come online by year's end, Janssen hopes to hit the gas on some promising new treatments and possibly stir up some deals for the parent company.

"Our goal is to improve the investment profile of life science companies by drastically reducing the cost and time to market," Janssen Labs head Melinda Richter said in a statement. "What started as an experiment has evolved into a proven, comprehensive model that is expanding. Ultimately, success is to bring more solutions to patients that need them."

The idea is to colocate everything a biotech needs into a one-stop shop for shared services, allowing scientists to keep their heads down and innovate instead of worrying about permits and clerical work, Richter said.

Janssen stresses that it's offering a no-strings-attached opportunity to promising biotechs, and qualifying companies aren't roped into equity deals or required to hand over options. A few Janssen Labs tenants have already inked financing or licensing deals, including Alector, Bell Biosystems and Araxes Pharma.

The incubator is accepting applications on its website.

- here's the release