LabCentral, Pfizer to Open Next-Stage Facility

LabCentral and Pfizer plans to open LabCentral 610, a new lab offering located at Pfizer’s Kendall Square Worldwide R&D campus. The 33,000-sq.-ft. facility is scheduled to open in December and will house as many as six early- to mid-stage companies. Eligible startups include those with high-impact science and and significant prospects for achieving scientific and business success whose space needs exceed current LabCentral offerings. The companies may be ‘graduates’ from the current LabCentral space, or those interested in securing space in Kendall Square.
 
A joint steering committee made up of representatives from LabCentral and Pfizer evaluate potential companies. Three local biotechs have been accepted: Affinivax, EnBiotix, and Aquinnah Pharmaceuticals. 

 "As our resident startups have met their scientific milestones quickly and efficiently, they’ve thrived and grown – often citing LabCentral’s support and coworking model as a key factor," said LabCentral cofounder and president Johannes Fruehauf, M.D., Ph.D."
 
LabCentral developed the LabCentral 610 site in response to requests from resident startups outgrowing or "aging out" of its original facility who want to remain within LabCentral’s supportive environment as they continue on in their next stage of development. (LabCentral policies limit the length of time resident companies can stay in order to make room for a steady stream of cutting-edge startups.)
 
Pfizer’s chief scientific officer of Internal Medicine, Morrie Birnbaum, M.D., Ph.D. said, "Pfizer is proud to add LabCentral 610 to our growing Kendall Square Worldwide Research and Development campus. Collaborating with leaders such as LabCentral to foster scientific exchange and grow the next generation of biotechs is core to our mission, and it’s a testament to the strength of the area’s biomedical ecosystem to see these types of collaborations develop."