Spotlight On: Louis Kassa, CEO, Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center
Key points:
- • Incubator occupancy is rebounding after federal funding disruptions in 2025.
- • A funding gap persists for companies before Phase 1 clinical trials.
- • The center is weighing a manufacturing or GLP building for expansion.
October 2026 — Louis Kassa, CEO of the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center, spoke with Invest: about early-stage funding, changing demand for lab space, and commercialization. He discussed the center’s collaborative model and its approach to expansion. “I disagree with much of what has happened at the federal level over the past year and a half, but it may make us better by forcing us to think differently,” Kassa said.
Join us at caa’s upcoming leadership summits! These premier events bring together hundreds of public and private sector leaders to discuss the challenges and opportunities for businesses and investors. Find the next summit in a city near you!
How would you describe the environment for life sciences in the region?
2025 was tumultuous, with uncertainty around federal grants, tariffs, and interest rates. Now, we’re seeing things turn in a better direction.
We lease space through the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center in Doylestown and B+Labs at Cira Centre, where we partner with Brandywine Realty Trust, but the mix of space is changing. We used to see 60% or 70% lab space, with the rest devoted to offices. Now we’re seeing more of a 50-50 split. Companies are using CROs and doing clinical work elsewhere.
Pennsylvania’s new funding initiatives could help. There’s up to $125 million in insurance-premium tax credits to support innovation, although the timing of the resulting investment remains to be determined. Venture studios and company creation could make a difference over the next year or two by bringing academic assets, leadership, and incubators together. There’s also an ecosystem component involving clinical work, matching federal funding, and workforce development.
Eli Lilly’s investment in the Lehigh Valley, Johnson & Johnson in Spring House, and Lilly’s lab presence in Philadelphia are positive developments. I think we’re moving in the right direction, but we’re not out of the woods.
Where are the biggest funding gaps between research and commercialization?
From our early-stage perspective, venture capital is looking for companies in Phase 1 or Phase 2 clinical development. There’s a gap between creating a company and getting it to Phase 1. That is where we need more support.
The NIH’s SBIR and STTR programs lapsed in October 2025 and were reauthorized in April 2026, with new funding opportunities reopening later that year. There’s still uncertainty about the workforce needed to process the applications. Tens of thousands of applications are coming in, and I don’t know how NIH will process them with its staffing shortage. We need state and private funding to support early-stage companies and company creation.
What has changing lab occupancy revealed about the biotech market?
It’s been a roller coaster. Both incubators were close to full capacity coming into 2025. In early February, federal funding was paused or withdrawn, and funding at many universities came into question. That created panic in the early-stage market.
Many FDA-approved therapies originate in university research before progressing into incubators and biotech companies. When research funding at major institutions is threatened, it has a domino effect through drug development. There was discussion of reducing indirect cost rates to 15%, and some universities spent four to six weeks trying to work out how they would survive. Fortunately, that didn’t happen, but the industry was in flux.
Our occupancy declined, as it did elsewhere in the country. From the spring and summer of 2026 into the fall, we’ve started to see an uptick. Companies are finding their footing, getting funding, and coming back into incubators.
How are AI and investor expectations influencing early-stage biotech?
AI is an asset that can make drug development easier and quicker, but in early-stage development, it’s still the Wild West. Many companies don’t have the funding to invest in it. Pharmaceutical companies and more mature biotech companies are probably using it in more inventive ways and having more of an impact.
We don’t yet have a platform that can take a compound all the way across the finish line. There are companies using AI, but it is also affecting investment. I’ve seen studies suggesting that it has affected biotech investment, although the scale of that impact is still evolving.
Venture capital also wants more data now. Before 2022 and 2023, investors were more open to backing preclinical companies. That has changed the investment landscape.
What makes the center’s collaborative model effective?
Our model has been about collaboration for decades. This is the center’s 20th anniversary, and we’ve had 10 IPOs and billions of dollars in company creation. We’ve always viewed this as a partnership. Sometimes I don’t think the word “incubator” fully describes us. We’re more of a catalyst.
Life sciences is complex, and companies move through different phases. We see our role as partnering with them through commercialization. We don’t kick companies out; we want to help them reach the market and get through the process.
Having diverse scientists, opinions, and consultants helps accelerate drug development. That’s the strength of our model.
How are you evaluating expansion while supporting companies today?
When we initiated the project, the industry was in a different place. We have to adjust. I still see a need for a building, and we’re conducting a feasibility study, but we slowed down because we didn’t want another 35,000-square-foot building to cannibalize our existing incubator.
We’re considering a manufacturing building or a GLP building that would supplement what we already do. We’ve also discussed including conference and training facilities, which we don’t have here. I believe we’ll have another building, and possibly more, but we need to read the industry correctly and make sure it fits our work.
What does Philadelphia need to strengthen its biotech workforce and investment base?
We have strong workforce organizations, and we offer STEM programming for high-school and college students. At B+Labs, we work with Philadelphia high schools to expose students to biotech. That includes manufacturing, compliance, and lab jobs, as well as research.
We need to get everyone rowing together and filling the gaps. State funding for ecosystem development could help with workforce efforts. Philadelphia also has a loyal workforce, and that consistency helps the science move forward.
Funding remains essential. Venture capital here has improved, but we still don’t have as much as some competing markets. Curie Bio now has a presence at our Doylestown center, with someone meeting with our companies several times a week. We also have a partnership with Daiichi Sankyo. It’s happening; I’d like to see us accelerate it.
What are your priorities for the center and B+Labs?
Our priority is helping early-stage companies commercialize. When they succeed, the incubators succeed. Our staff works to connect companies with funding in the United States and internationally. We’re also thinking about commercialization within our research institute.
I disagree with much of what has happened at the federal level over the past year and a half, but it may make us better by forcing us to think differently. If funding returns, it will help. If it doesn’t, we have to find another way to keep the science and growth moving.
What opportunity does the 2027 BIO International Convention present?
It’s the largest event in our industry, bringing about 20,000 people together. It usually takes place in Boston or San Diego, and occasionally San Francisco. The last time Philadelphia hosted it was in 2019.
It gives us an opportunity to showcase our universities and technology, and to bring people out for tours. The city and state are planning for it. I hope we won’t have to wait another six years to host it again.
Want more? Read the Invest: Philadelphia report.
