Temple enters partnership to boost Philadelphia’s life sciences industry

Temple University has joined the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s new Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ), BioLaunch611.

In addition to Temple, major partners include Fox Chase Cancer Center, Lankenau Institute and BioStrategy Partners.

Other partners include Citizens Bank, Trinity Capital Partners, LaSalle University, Pennsylvania College of Optometry and others.

KIZs are partnerships between educational institutions and private-sector businesses, funded jointly by the state and the KIZ partners. These partnerships are designed to commercialize university technologies and broadly foster entrepreneurship in science and technology throughout Pennsylvania.

For its first year, BioLaunch611 is funded at $500,000, and will focus on launching new companies in the life sciences industry in North Philadelphia and the city’s suburbs.

Partnership in BioLaunch611 will enable Temple to link start-up companies in the medical, dental, pharmaceutical and bioengineering fields to resources such as incubation space, funding, mentoring and other business resources.

For more information, contact Chris Pavlides, executive director of Temple’s Innovation & Entrepreneurship Institute, at pavlides@temple.edu or 215-204-1035.

— Julia Straka