Montgomery County, VA – The Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center (VTCRC) announced last Wednesday, Dec. 15, that GO Virginia has awarded the research park a grant to “fund the expansion of laboratory space and facilities aimed at supporting the region’s growing life science industry.”
The research center will develop a shared lab facility in Blacksburg with a coalition of stakeholders including Montgomery County, Carilion Clinic, and the City of Roanoke. These stakeholders will also design a larger facility in Roanoke.
The shared lab space facility at the research center in Blacksburg will be called COgro LABS. According to Brett Malone, President and CEO of the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center, who made the announcement at a press conference. The facility “is designed with 25 accessible lab spaces in a turnkey facility. The facility will help meet a need for flexible lab space from small- to early-stage companies, making starting and building a biotech company a little bit easier.
“Through collaborations, we aim to fill the demand from biotechnology companies and provide full access needed to support research to commercialization aspirations,” Malone said. “Our sophisticated infrastructure makes us a research destination across industries and for everyone from startups to enterprise companies.”
In addition to this new lab space, the research center has established a new collaboration with Johnson & Johnson LLC to “provide early-stage innovators in the region with access to their virtual residency program that includes expert mentoring, programming and resources offered through Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS.”
Up to five companies will be selected by JLABS and the research center to participate in the JLABS virtual residency program during the first year of the collaboration.
“Montgomery County is pleased to provide support to this partnership, which demonstrates our commitment to biotechnology growth in the New River and Roanoke Valleys,” said Montgomery County Administrator Craig Meadows. “We look forward to working with the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center and the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute to promote recognition for our region as a biotechnology hub.”
