Thomas Richardson, President, Institute for Life Science Entrepreneurship
In an interview with Invest:, Thomas Richardson, president of Institute for Life Science Entrepreneurship, discussed the organization’s role in fostering innovation and efforts to navigate funding challenges while supporting early-stage life sciences companies, noting “we specialize in translational science, helping move innovations from labs to commercialization.”
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Reflecting on the past year, what have been the most significant milestones or achievements for the Institute of Life Science Entrepreneurship (ILSE)?
We have had a tremendous year. As a nonprofit, we support many startups in the life science space, and the companies have received numerous grants, SBIRs, and related funding, bringing our total to about $43 million over the past few years. The small community that we have here on campus at Kean University has done an outstanding job in raising money.
We are also excited to launch our new program, which we started in summer 2024, called the Entrepreneur Training Program. It is a venture studio model program that combines the key elements of Lean Startup and I-Corps, along with other important aspects of entrepreneurship, including executive education. We have added a new spin by focusing an entire module on leadership development, training entrepreneurs to become the best advocates for their companies. This is something that has long been missing, and we are thrilled by the response.
We have received tremendous interest from the ecosystem, with many people eager to partner with us as teachers, mentors, or subject matter experts. Those are some of our major accomplishments. Additionally, we have expanded our international programs. We have long-standing collaborations through our relationship with CARB-X, a public-private partnership out of Boston University with a billion dollars in government and foundation funding to promote technologies and cures for antimicrobial resistance. We are one of the major accelerators for this group.
We have also conducted economic development and training programs in Central America, particularly in Panama, and we are building a new program with our partner, Kean University, alongside research institutes in Brazil. All of this has happened just in 2024.
What makes New Jersey’s life sciences landscape stand out compared to the rest of the country and what role does ILSE play in it?
It is probably easiest to start with us first. We are involved in translational science; that is, when an innovation occurs, whether at a university, pharmaceutical company, or biotech company, we help move the technology forward through the development pipeline into a commercial entity. This could be a startup, a licensing deal, or ensuring the technology becomes an actual product.
We work with spinouts from large pharmaceutical companies and universities worldwide, especially through our CARB-X relationship and as a hands-on venture studio. We embed ourselves with teams to maximize their chances of success.
What makes New Jersey such a great place for this work is that it has the world’s largest physical infrastructure for pharmaceutical and life sciences, attracting headquarters, R&D facilities, manufacturing, and distribution. Our location in the Mid-Atlantic, with access to New York City and Philadelphia, places us in an incredible ecosystem.
The legacy of the pharmaceutical industry here is tremendous, with extensive R&D, clinical research, clinical development, and manufacturing. This has been a major asset for our work and helps us to promote the ecosystem and help innovators and entrepreneurs succeed right here in New Jersey.
With the state support towards life sciences, how does New Jersey’s healthcare and life science landscape stand out compared to the rest of the country?
New Jersey has a long track record of state funding and incentive programs instrumental in starting, growing, maintaining, and accelerating companies. As an ecosystem, we likely have one of the best collections of government programs supporting direct funding, bridge funding for startups between federal grant cycles, workforce development, post-doc support, and entrepreneur assistance.
I have been involved with initiatives across the state, including the work of the Commission on Science, Innovation, and Technology, which connects startups with university facilities and resources. The existing infrastructure for basic research and development at universities means early-stage companies do not have to burn all their cash on instrumentation as they can access what they need on a per-use basis. The Commission has also been incredibly helpful in providing funding to support these activities, and that is just one of many programs available.
What are the challenges and opportunities, including access to capital, regulatory hurdles, and talent acquisition, for life sciences companies?
No one has an easy time raising money. For a startup to succeed, three things are needed: an entrepreneur, a technology, and capital. Without one, there is no startup. If you have two, you can find the third. If you have money and are an entrepreneur, you can buy technology. If you have an entrepreneur and technology, you can raise money. If you have money and technology, you can find an entrepreneur.
New Jersey offers access to partners, resources, specialized lab facilities, and personnel. The challenge is organizing this into a cohesive strategy for startups to find the right partners and capital. At the Institute, we focus on the first money into companies. Many are not yet ready for venture capital, but with the right support, such as grant funding, SBIRs, and guidance, we help them transition from zero to five miles per hour. Just like a car, the hardest part is getting it started. Once they gain momentum, they can accelerate further. The same applies to companies.
What are some legislative changes impacting the life sciences industry?
I think the major problem facing the startup ecosystem, particularly those emerging from universities, has been the uncertainty. There is significant hesitancy among organizations and grant agencies to make decisions about funding. That has had a tremendous negative impact.
One company I am working with has been sitting on a $3 million grant for months with a notice of intent to fund. However, due to changes in how overheads are managed or how grants are administered at the federal level, there is a delay. This has a huge impact on the operations of a startup company and certainly their livelihood in the short term.
More broadly, at universities, federal changes affecting overheads can have a profound effect on infrastructure and support services. These services enable the research enterprise to function more effectively, allowing researchers to focus on their work while ensuring administrative and compliance requirements are met. The uncertainty is perhaps the worst part. However, I believe we will navigate it. We have seen that technological innovation generally prevails, and so we remain focused on developing strong technology with capable people and being best positioned when the conditions improve.
How does ILSE engage with policymakers to advocate for the interests of the life sciences community?
We are part of a large ecosystem in New Jersey. The institute is one of the founding members of the New Jersey Academic Drug Discovery Consortium, which includes Princeton, Rutgers, NJIT, and other major research institutions in the state.
We serve on various advisory boards and committees, such as the R&D Council and the New Jersey Bioscience Center, at both the state and trade levels. While our focus is not government and policy, we work to ensure that the right people understand the challenges and the impact of policies on daily operations and company-building processes. Our advocacy involves amplifying voices so that decision-makers recognize these issues.
How is ILSE addressing the increasing integration of technologies and AI in the healthcare and life science sector?
We focus on companies that are using or developing technology. As I mentioned earlier, we specialize in the translational side, that is, once a technology is developed, we help commercialize it rather than develop that technology directly ourselves.
The growth in AI and precision medicine as foundational technology platforms has been inspiring and is becoming more prominent in startups. Additionally, we are witnessing a resurgence in therapeutic areas that were previously neglected. During the pandemic, the focus shifted to infectious diseases, but before that, we were dealing with the opioid epidemic, which remains a crisis.
We have companies developing novel approaches for pain management, diagnostics, and antibiotics, various therapeutics. One of our companies is addressing the threat to the drug supply chain by onshoring the manufacturing of pharmaceuticals and intermediates, thereby lessening our dependency on foreign manufacturing. Our portfolio includes businesses working across various therapeutic areas, utilizing a wide range of technologies. It is an exciting space.
What is your outlook for the life science sector in New Jersey over the next few years, and what are ILSE top priorities?
New Jersey is remarkably positioned for research, development, and fostering the next wave of therapies, diagnostics, and healthcare innovations. Our institute has a strong track record in developing startups as vehicles for these technologies. I am optimistic that the technology base, expertise, and funding environment will converge to advance solutions for societal challenges, both globally and within New Jersey’s ecosystem.
For us at the institute, we are expanding our incubator. We have space at Kean University and federal funding to add more labs and offices. We are collaborating with the university to expedite this. We receive inquiries from around the world weekly, with entrepreneurs looking to relocate and grow here. With more space, time, and funding, we can expand our impact, and the outlook is outstanding. There is always more work to be done, and even if macroeconomic conditions shift, we have enough momentum to keep progressing across our portfolio.
