The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) recently welcomed Sunnylife Pharma Inc. as one of its newest tenants at the Commercialization Center for Innovative Technologies (CCIT) in North Brunswick.
Founded by a team of former Merck scientists, Sunnylife Pharma Inc. is a contracted research services organization focused on the unmet medical needs of cancer patients, as well as people suffering from cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Sunnylife Pharma helps drug-discovery companies worldwide reduce research and development costs by assisting with an array of pre-clinical research chemistry-related services.
“Creating a culture of innovation is a centerpiece of Governor Murphy’s vision for a stronger and fairer economy, and nurturing emerging companies like Sunnylife Pharma is central to executing on that vision,” EDA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tim Sullivan said. “Removing barriers to commercialization and profitability for entrepreneurs with novel ideas will pave the way to strengthen economic opportunity in this high growth sector.”
As New Jersey’s leading life sciences incubator, CCIT’s collaborative environment enables Sunnylife Pharma executives and scientists to network with members of other drug discovery-companies such as Aucta Pharmaceuticals, Quixgen, and Grace Therapeutics, as well as research organization such as Kamat Pharmatech and API Pharma Tech. Like other CCIT tenants, Sunnylife Pharma will have access to offices, conference rooms, support staff, small business development resources and the ability to routinely seek advice from professional firms within the life sciences community.
“I discovered CCIT based on recommendations from several former colleagues and found the staff to be very welcoming and the facilities well-suited to our needs,” Sunnylife Co-Founder and CEO Xibin Liao said. “Furthermore, we find many advantages in CCIT’s location near major cities, universities, and pharmaceutical companies.”
CCIT also offers tenants assistance in finding outside funding sources. For the past two years, representatives from the National Institute of Health (NIH) and other federal agencies have presented to CCIT tenants and other members of New Jersey’s life sciences community about federal funding opportunities.
Sunnylife has repeatedly received funding from NIH to further its research and drug development. Last year, the company participated in NIH’s Innovation-Corps, an invitation-only eight-week entrepreneurial program for teams from biotech companies and other small, medically-focused companies.
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