A new life sciences incubator is slated to open in University City at the end of 2021

Developer Brandywine Realty Trust has partnered with the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center (PABC) on a new incubator space the duo said is slated to open at the end of this year.

The space, B.Labs, will open in the Cira Centre across from Brandywine’s ongoing project, Schuylkill Yards in University City. It’s one of the many, many projects in UCity right now.

B.Labs will open with an innovation, collaboration and research space for early-stage startups in the life science industry. Once completed in Q4 of this year, the lab will offer 50,000 square feet of flex research space within three stories of the skyscraper, Brandywine said this week.

While the exact number of companies to be included will depend on how big each eventual tenant is, the space will include more than 200 lab benches in both private suites and shared labs, as well as both open and private work and meeting spaces.

“The catalyst for our incubator was the ever-expanding, small-scale life science users with high-growth projections who need space immediately,” said Jerry Sweeney, president and CEO of Brandywine, in a statement. “Partnering with the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center will accelerate establishing a dynamic, flexible community of innovators who can grow their company as they steward their discoveries into commercial offerings.”

The Blumberg Institute’s PABC has served more than 200 member companies at its lab in Doylestown, and B.Labs intends to replicate its model with access to talent, transit and resources surrounding the region’s burgeoning cell and gene therapy industry.

Brandywine and PABC cited the Cira Centre’s proximity to 30th Street Station for being able to attract both city and suburban talent at the new incubator, and the neighborhood for connecting it with most of the city’s other life science companies and higher ed institutions.

“We have a proven blueprint for success, and partnering with the visionary team at Brandywine will allow us to implement our formula in an exciting new venue in the heart of a vibrant city,” said Louis Kassa, EVP and COO of the PABC and the Blumberg Institute.

The Cira Centre. (Photo courtesy of Brandywine Realty Trust)