London Biotechnology Commercialization Center (LBCC)
London Biotechnology Commercialization Center (LBCC) founded by Western, the Robarts Research Institute (RRI), Lawson Health Research Institute (LHRI) and the City of London. The City of London and the Province of Ontario each allocated $5 million to build the LBCC, now considered a leader among the three-biotech commercialization centers in Ontario. Ernst & Young, Managing Partner, Moira Burke, Chair of the six-member LBCC Board of Directors.
The founding partners contributed about $140,000 in seed money. The center was constructed for $8.4 million; about $600,000 was spent on pre-operating expenses and $1 million was earmarked as working capital until occupancies increased. LBCC is classified as a Level II wet lab facility, which means that tenants can do everything except work with materials such as radioactive and airborne disease contaminants. LBCC plays a role of accelerator for the incubating level of companies.
The three-storied building at 700 Collip Circle in Western’s Research and Development Park opened in September 2002 and began accepting tenants in November. In addition to lab and office facilities, the center helps start-up companies by providing business planning support, market research, mentoring and operations analysis.
Equally important are the links to service providers and industry networks. LBCC President Peter Bruijns, the 44-year-old mechanical engineer and architect with extensive business experience says that, the tenant companies are of different sizes, and this is where our role as an incubator or an accelerator comes into play.
The building has 33,000 square feet of space, to lease. It has a fibre optic backbone, 25 labs and is fully backed up by a generator. This is the center of convergence for the city, where organizations such as the Life Sciences Council and Tec Alliance hold cluster meetings, even has a special Web portal – BioveloCity.net – designed by Bruijns and a University of Waterloo student.
The LBCC has central facilities that companies do not need to duplicate such as sterilizers, autoclaves, washers and ice machines, as well as high quality distilled water systems, fume hoods, meeting rooms, coordinated waste removal and other infrastructure.
People who register can find everything from a research library to funding opportunities to a buyer for used scientific equipment. Staffed by three people, the LBCC strives to be a not-for-profit, break-even corporation with a nominal cash flow surplus that can be reinvested in equipment.
An entrepreneur can rent a workstation; get an address and an identity for as little as $200 a month plus GST. The charge for wet lab facilities is $31.50 per square foot, so for about $1,000 a month a tenant can use a lab with access to $300,000 – $400,000 worth of common equipment.
Currently, 55 per cent of the first two floors are occupied, which is ahead of plan and on target financially. Viron Therapeutics Inc., Diabetogen Biosciences Inc., Critical Outcome Technologies, Sciemed and President of XL Resonance are some of its tenants.
Bruijns states that where people start talking and sharing problems with each other, that’s the best environment. So once we get up to 18 or 19 companies, there will be a lot of dynamic interaction and that translates into faster growth because they share problems and solutions. There is a community of like-minded people developing here
The companies do require reliable facilities with a lot of risk mitigation to them. And that’s one of the things this building offers – it helps mitigate their facilities related risks. This facility will help to set objectives. It offers physical space as well as an environment where there is complete support for the whole process of entrepreneurship.
The London Biotechnology Commercialization Center will be named The Stiller Biotechnology Commercialization Center, in honor of Dr. Calvin R. and Mrs. Angelina Stiller, Founder of the Multi-Organ Transplant Service. Dr. Stiller is a distinguished professor, researcher, businessperson and entrepreneur, the former chair and founder of various corporations and venture capital funds, including the Canadian Medical Discoveries Fund.
LBCC is expected to be a model in Ontario and Canada for successful biotechnology development. It’s name to be symbolized in medical and research excellence, entrepreneurship, national and international stature and community commitment. We could not think of any more outstanding example of that combination than the Stiller Center.