Adolescence has been good to BioSTL so far. The biotech group replaced its original and descriptive (if clunky) name for a shorter, sleeker moniker. A new district for entrepreneurs, researchers and investors is drawing in local and transplanted companies. And, investors are starting to appreciate the economics of deals done in the Midwest.
Donn Rubin, the CEO of BioSTL, said that the group’s current accomplishments have been a decade in the making.
“We have focused on building elements that support entrepreneurs,” he said. “BioSTL has been both the umbrella and the catalyst of all this activity.”
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
In 2011, the group dropped the original “Coalition of Plant and Life Sciences” name and launched a website. At the same time, the group added several major funders, who made commitments of $10 million to be provided over five years.
“Seventy percent of the money goes to Biogenerator and into companies as equity investments,” he said.
Rubin said that the key to BioSTL’s success is due to an early investment in collaborating with everyone in town who had a stake in the biotech sector.
“We have for over a decade been convening everyone – business incubators, researchers, and business leaders – to build trust,” he said.
The city and its life science entrepreneurs also benefit from Pfizer’s legacy.
“Pfizer downsized four years ago and left such a cluster of drug discovery talent,” he said. “Many of those people did not want to leave St. Louis and wanted to be entrepreneurs.”
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
Express Scripts, Centene and Asencion Health all have corporate offices in St. Louis, creating a source of customers and mentors for healthcare startups.
“As entrepreneurs are looking to develop HIT and mobile health solutions, we can connect them to major healthcare systems to be their first customers and to help them build business models to match demand,” he said.
The group’s approach to building new businesses was recently recognized as a best practice in the Western Hemisphere in the “Signs of Competitiveness in the Americas” report from the Inter-American Competitiveness Network.
If that isn’t enough to convince you that St. Louis is a great place for biotech startups, here are three more reasons.
Free lab space for early-stage companies
Rubin said that a few years ago BioSTL noticed a trend of companies with early-stage ideas that needed lab equipment. Instead of funding equipment for each company, the group built BioGenerator Accelerator Labs. The shared and private wet laboratory space covers medicinal chemistry, cell biology, molecular biology and biochemistry. It is free to very early-stage companies.
“Until just the last month, we had 20+ companies crammed on top of one another in 5,000 square feet,” he said. “We just added 12,000 square feet which can hold 150 people.”
Rubin said that the goal is not to compete with incubators but to fill an earlier stage gap.
Biogenerator also has a seed fund and a spark fund. Since 2003, BioGenerator has invested more than $5 million in 42 new seed and pre-seed stage startups, and leveraged $140 million in additional private co-investment.
Running into the right people in The Cortex
Just as a coffee shop can provide a serendipitous meeting place for all kinds of talent, a neighborhood can do the same thing on a bigger scale. The Center of Research, Technology & Entrepreneurial Exchange is an urban redevelopment corridor that connects the Washington University Medical Center with the Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
“The university tech transfer offices are relocating to the district also to mash up investors, researchers, and entrepreneurs,” he said.
The CORTEX is a nonprofit formed in 2002 by Washington University in St. Louis, BJC Healthcare, University of Missouri – St. Louis, St. Louis University, and the Missouri Botanical Garden. The district has completed or has under construction 1 million square feet of new and rehabilitated space that represents a $350 million investment. The master plan for the district includes $2.1 billion of construction, over 4.5 million square feet of mixed-use development, a new MetroLink light-rail station and 13,000 permanent technology-related jobs.
Cambridge is coming to town
St. Louis also can claim the ultimate vote of confidence from the strongest biotech city in America.
“The Cambridge Innovation Center in Boston announced that their first expansion will be in St. Louis in this district,” he said.
Rubin said the goal is to replicate what they are doing in Cambridge with an emphasis on density of entrepreneurial activity.
2014 goal: Get on the VC radar
Now that St. Louis can support seed and pre-seed investments for life science startups, the next step is to attract capital funds.
“Our challenge is round A,” he said.
The region has two things that have started to attract investors: a critical mass of startups and capital efficiency.
“I’ve heard people say that you can do in St. Louis with half a million dollars what it takes $5 million to do in California,” he said.
