Biotech Companies are Coming to Life at Ocean State Labs
The life sciences incubator, which opened last month in Providence, welcomes its first six tenants.
Up to thirty life sciences firms will be able to share space in the new Ocean State Labs incubator, located on the fourth floor of 150 Richmond St. in Providence. Photography by James Jones
$21 million: How much the RI Life Science Hub has given to life science companies since its founding.
37: The number of life science companies that have received funds from the RI Life Science Hub.
On Feb. 2, the state opened the doors of Ocean State Labs, accelerating Rhode Island’s contributions to the burgeoning life sciences sector.
Six firms moved into the state’s first life sciences incubator, located on the fourth floor of 150 Richmond St. in Providence’s Innovation District. The state-of-the-art lab and office will eventually be able to house up to thirty startup companies within 30,000 square feet.
The six biotech companies focus on cutting-edge research into cancer treatments, ligament and tendon healing, RNA innovations, scar-tissue repair and neurodegenerative disease.
The state hopes the incubator will lure other biotech and life sciences firms to the area, putting Providence on par with similar hubs in Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts, New Haven, Connecticut, and California’s Bay Area. Portal Innovations, a life sciences venture capital firm based in Chicago, is managing the site.
The spire of the First Baptist Church can be seen from a room holding cutting-edge equipment like vented biosafety workspaces, left, and a centrifuge. Photography by James Jones
“Our goal is to build and grow the life science community, leveraging a relationship between government, academia and the private sector to build what we hope can be a burgeoning field of economic development here in the region,” says Dr. Mark Turco, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Life Science Hub, the state’s central clearinghouse to attract and invest in life sciences companies.
“This issue is a piece of a larger pie in terms of driving the economy,” says Governor Dan McKee. “We’re really uniquely positioned between Boston and New York City, and the cost of living here is significantly less, so it’s going to be a very attractive place to find our niche.”
- The initial companies working out of Ocean State Labs include:
- Lilac Biosciences, focusing on advancing RNA-driven research.
- MindImmune Therapeutics, targeting the immune system to combat the effects of neurodegenerative diseases.
- OncoLux Inc., developing an optical system to distinguish tumor margins and treat cancer during cancer surgery.
- P53 Therapeutics, developing small molecule cancer therapies to bypass mutations in the p53 tumor suppressor gene.
- Pax Therapeutics, focusing on gene therapy to heal tendon and ligament injuries.
- XM Therapeutics, developing technology to repair scar tissue and heal chronic wounds.
One of the many private lab spaces. Photography by James Jones
‘Companies … would leave the region’
The idea of turning Providence into a life sciences hub has been several years in the making, spun out of discussions between Neil Steinberg, then president of the Rhode Island Foundation, House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, former Senate President Dominick Ruggerio and Governor McKee. In 2023, Shekarchi introduced legislation creating the RI Life Science Hub, while McKee allocated $45 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to developing the space and funding life sciences companies either in Rhode Island or expanding into the state.
Steinberg led the RI Life Science Hub as volunteer chairman before resigning last July. In December 2024, Turco became president and CEO. The Philadelphia native is a cardiologist who ran a cardiac research institute and has served in leadership positions in medical startup firms.
The lab was sorely needed, he says. Researchers at Brown University, Rhode Island Hospital and the University of Rhode Island who wanted to start a company had to look further afield, since the state had no dedicated lab space for researchers to advance their discoveries.
A bike room where employees can store bicycles after their commute, with a map of the downtown area on the wall. Photography by James Jones
“We never had an incubator here, so companies that would spin out of our academic institutions would need to leave the region, as opposed to staying here,” Turco says. “Now we can house up to twenty to thirty
companies that have grown and fostered here in Rhode Island, or companies from outside the state that want to move to Rhode Island.”
In addition to Ocean State Labs, the 212,000-square-foot, seven-story building on 195 District land houses the new State Health Laboratories. Brown University is providing 30,000 square feet of leased space — valued at $13 million over ten years — for the incubator.
“The research being done here in Rhode Island may someday benefit Rhode Islanders,” says Shekarchi, a diabetic who’s been living with the condition since 1997. His late mother, Esther, also had the disease.
Life sciences venture capital firm Portal Innovations manages the incubator and similar early-stage life science labs in Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston and New Jersey. Brothers John and Patrick Flavin — a Providence College graduate — founded Portal in 2020 and are excited about the state’s thriving medical research scene.
A shared kitchen and event area. Photography by James Jones
“If you look at some of the things happening at Brown and URI in neuro and neuro engineering, let alone being ground zero for RNA therapeutics, these core areas are not only attracting people from within the state and in New England, but we think these areas will attract people who want to come here to be adjacent to some of that work,” says John Flavin.
The Ocean State’s diminutive size is also an asset, Turco says, in terms of networking, relationships and the ability to move quickly.
“You can go to Massachusetts, you can go to Connecticut, you can go to the Bay Area or San Diego, Southern California, and you’ll be a small fish in a very big pond,” he says.
That’s been the experience of Dr. Margaret Liu, the CEO of Pax Therapeutics (and sister of co-founder Dr. Paul Liu). The biomedical scientist and San Francisco
resident attended an event for Senator Jack Reed where she was able to get face time with both McKee and the senator.
Workstations in the shared office space convert into standing desks. Photography by James Jones
“The research we do could be very crucial for the military, and so Senator Reed’s office is very interested in what we’re doing,” Liu says. “I’ve just been super impressed with the coordination between both the state government and then the national representation that adds yet another dimension that, frankly, you don’t often see, and certainly you don’t necessarily see in a state like California, where it’s just too big to get that kind of coordination.”
In June, Turco will head to the BIO International Convention in San Diego, the largest biotechnology event in the world, to sit on several panels and highlight the work being done in Providence.
“There have been a lot of starts and stops in this type of initiative in the past, but I think now there is a commitment and energy, because there is coordinated activity between academia, our local state government and industry and the Rhode Island Life Science hub to help drive what our mission and vision is for the state of Rhode Island in life sciences,” he says. “This is an exciting time in Rhode Island. There is an energy here, around the life sciences and around the work that’s being done in the state, that is very palpable and very exciting to see.”
The Six Companies
Lilac Biosciences
Leadership: Anubhav Tripathi, left, co-founder, professor of biomedical engineering at Brown University; Sabrina Tolppi, co-founder, right, recent Brown University graduate.
The work: Advancing RNA-driven research.
The why: RNA-based research, or therapeutic discovery based on RNA, is only going to grow in academic and commercial laboratories, says Tripathi. “Biopharma is very interested in RNA-based future therapeutics. It’s not just vaccines, but also understanding how RNA and the modification of RNA play a role in various diseases inside our body.”
MindImmune Therapeutics
Leadership: Stevin Zorn, left, chief science officer and adjunct professor of biomedical and pharmaceutical sciences, Ryan Research Professor of neuroscience at the George & Anne Ryan Institute for Neuroscience at the University of Rhode Island.
The work: MindImmune discovered that a certain immune cell in the blood travels to the brain, causing the synaptic damage at the heart of Alzheimer’s disease. It has developed MITI-101, an antibody that prevents that immune cell from getting into the brain.
The why: “My mother-in-law died of this disease, and my mother has Alzheimer’s now,” Zorn says. “It’s devastating to see your loved one just deteriorate like that with the disease, and it’s really, really hard on the family.”
OncoLux Inc.
Leadership: Alan Kersey, CEO, has a Ph.D. in medical physics.
The work: OncoLux Inc. is developing an optical theranostic system that illuminates cancer boundaries during surgery and treats the cancer at the same time.
The why: “This year, two million people will be diagnosed with cancer in the U.S.,” says Kersey. “While the numbers are improving with earlier detection, it’s still a huge cause of death and mortality. In the U.S., more than 600,000 people will die this year of cancer alone.”
P53 Therapeutics
Leadership: Dr. Wafik El-Deiry, left, scientific founder and chairman, associate dean for oncologic sciences at the Warren Alpert Medical School and director of Legorreta Cancer Center at Brown University; Dr. Wolfgang Oster, co-founder and CEO, former adjunct professor at Brown Medical School.
The work: Developing small molecule cancer therapies to bypass mutations in the p53 tumor suppressor gene.
The why: P53 is the most commonly mutated gene in human cancer, according to El-Deiry. It’s very common in head and neck cancer, colon cancer, ovarian cancer, brain cancer and breast cancer. “This is going to be a very important change in medical practice if we succeed and find a drug that actually addresses this target,” Oster says.
Pax Therapeutics
Leadership: Dr. Paul Liu*, left, co-founder and executive chairman, chief of plastic surgery at Rhode Island Hospital and professor of surgery at the Warren Alpert Medical School; Dr. Margaret Liu, right, CEO; Dr. Xiaotian Wang, co-founder and CSO; Sanjay Gokhale, CFO.
The work: Using gene therapy to heal tendon and ligament injuries in humans and animals. Its injectable drug, PAX-001, has been shown in pre-clinical testing to heal flexor tendon injuries of the hand faster and with greater range of motion.
The why: “If you look at the number of people with ligament and tendon injuries that are lost to the workforce, even temporarily, it’s a multibillion-dollar economic loss,” says Dr. Paul Liu.
*Dr. Paul Liu passed away unexpectedly in late January, delaying the company’s planned Feb. 2 move-in date.
XM Therapeutics
Impact Magazine at Brown University
Leadership: Frank Ahmann, left, president and CEO; Jeffrey Morgan, right, co-founder, professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and professor of engineering at Brown University; Dr. Frank Sellke, co-founder, chief of cardiothoracic surgery at Rhode Island Hospital and professor of medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School.
The work: Developing technology to repair scar tissue and heal chronic wounds.
The why: “These biologics are for the treatment of chronic diseases that affect millions of patients, such as heart failure, chronic wounds and some cancers,” Ahmann says. “These are all progressive, and they are characterized by scarring or fibrosis, by inflammation and by poor oxygen supply. They typically affect the aging and senior population, and have no current effective cure.”
