Life Sciences

BioNJ Celebrates Satellite Office at NJ Innovation Hub

By Anthony Birritteri, Editor-in-Chief On Jul 15, 2026

BioNJ, the trade organization that represents the state’s life sciences industry, yesterday celebrated the opening of its satellite office at the New Jersey Innovation Hub (NJIH) powered by Portal Innovation.

According to Debbie Hart, president and CEO of BioNJ, the new office at the NJIH, a 30,000-square-foot, state-of-the art incubator and co-working space located on the 9^th floor of the HELIX 1 building in New Brunswick, reflects BioNJ’s continued commitment “to being where innovation happens and creating more opportunities for our members to collaborate and succeed.”

BioNJ joins the NJIH as one of 16 foundational members. “Moving here is just the next level of fulfilling our mission of bringing the life sciences community together; making sure it can partner, be educated and take advantage of all the things New Jersey has to offer,” Hart said.

As an incubator, the NJIH serves as an extension of what BioNJ has already been doing in assisting startups in the life sciences ecosystem. “We will just be doing this on a more visible and broader basis,” Hart explained.

With main offices in Trenton, BioNJ will rotate its staff between the two sites. “We are just expanding our ability to convene the life sciences community, to help entrepreneurs, and foster partnerships that accelerate new medical breakthroughs. We will host members, policymakers, committee meetings, and hold educational programs and networking events here,” Hart said.

The NJIH powered by Portal Innovation celebrated its grand opening earlier this week. It is designed to support emerging biotechnology, life sciences, healthcare, and technology companies by combining state-of-the-art laboratory infrastructure with access to investors, strategic partners, operators, and founder-focused programming.

Its rentable lab spaces encompass 15,000 square feet and include 300 wet lab benches, 80 dry lab benches, and 13 large labs ranging from 450 to 1,100 square feet. Its shared office space encompasses another 15,000 square feet with some 75 shared flexible desks (sitting and standing) and numerous offices, plus conference rooms.

NJIH is located within the H1 building of the $2.2 billion, 1.5 million-square-foot HELIX development in New Brunswick. H1 will house the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, a translational research center and a 35,000-square-foot vivarium, both operated by Rutgers.

According to Christopher Paladino, president of the New Brunswick Development Corporation (DEVCO), there will also be a step-up lab directly above the NJIH. “The hope is that startups will spend time here as they need additional space and hire more people,” Paladino said.

All 16 founding members of NJIH represent a diverse range of innovation across biotechnology, therapeutics, healthcare, artificial intelligence, and life sciences services, reflecting the strength of New Jersey’s rapidly growing innovation ecosystem. They include:

BioNJ – New Jersey’s life sciences trade association supporting innovation, collaboration, and industry growth across the state.
TangGene – Pioneering tissue-specific CD8 regulatory T cell therapies for autoimmune diseases, including disease-modifying treatments for multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, through a proprietary nanoparticle platform.
Guidant Therapeutics – Developing next-generation immune therapies for cancer designed to improve precision while minimizing systemic toxicity.
DrRx.ai – AI-powered platform that gives health systems real-time, FHIR-based visibility into patient medications across care transitions, driving avoidable readmissions.
Favorite Pharma – Focused on advancing precision medicine oncology therapies inclusive of pancreatic and colorectal cancers.
Larada Therapeutics – Advancing novel treatments for rare ocular diseases with no currently approved therapies.
PumpKin Baby – Developing a natural breastmilk preservative device to also assess the nutritional quality of frozen human milk.
PharmaMedic, LLC – Providing pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with medical, regulatory, and product development consulting services.
Sampled – Helping organizations unlock the value of biological samples and data to accelerate research and precision medicine.
Thrive Genetics – Using genomics and technology to improve addiction care through earlier risk detection and personalized treatment strategies.
Ubuntu Research – Supplying clinical strategy, trial design, and operational support to early and clinical-stage biotech companies.
PFA Solve – Delivering Rapid, Reliable, and Safe PFAS Detection, Capture, and Destruction Technology.
Materium Technologies – Developing sustainable, high-performance nanocomposite films using machine learning and materials science for advanced applications.
Scarlet TCR – Genetically engineered T cell therapy that forces stable expression of a receptor to target Human Papillomavirus (HPV).
LeagueMed, LLC – Digital, multimedia investment platform connecting healthcare professionals to private MedTech and Health IT investment opportunities.
Phase 1 Solutions – Giving hands-on drug development experience across global top-tier sponsors. Purpose built for urgent and rescue scenarios and FIH Phase 1 through Phase 1b program delivery.