Johnson & Johnson Innovation plans to expand J-Labs (formerly Janssen Labs) to include a new incubator located within Texas Medical Center's new Innovation Institute. The 30,000-square-foot J-Labs facility will accommodate up to 50 life science startups.

"As one of the top global biotechnology clusters, and home to the Texas Medical Center, the largest medical center in the world, Houston is a flourishing life science hub in which we see great potential for an incubator to enable the talented scientists in the region to take their innovation to the next level," said Melinda Richter, head of J-Labs, part of J&J Innovation. "The continued demand for our J-Labs model fueled our decision to expand with J-Labs @TMC, which furthers our goal of helping entrepreneurs advance science with the potential to become transformational solutions for patients."

J&J Innovation seeks to find the best science and technology, no matter where it is located, to solve the greatest unmet medical and healthcare needs of our time. J-Labs @TMC will link regional entrepreneurs with the full breadth of J&J Innovation, including opportunities to discuss funding, access third-party services, attend educational events and meet with R&D experts from J&J medical device and diagnostic technology, consumer healthcare product and Janssen pharmaceutical teams. J-Labs @TMC also will follow the same no-strings attached approach currently in operation at the California and Boston J-Labs facilities. 

The University of Texas is part of the Texas Medical Center. Texas Medical Center is a life science accelerator and one of the core components of the Texas Medical Center's Innovation Institute, which offers entrepreneurs a full spectrum of support, including curriculum about entrepreneurship, a network of advisors and mentors as well as access to strategic and venture investors.

The J-Labs network currently hosts 70 life science companies across its three active facilities located in San Diego, San Francisco (J-Labs @QB3) and Boston (J-Labs @LabCentral). J-Labs @South San Francisco will open in early 2015 and will accommodate up to 50 companies in the Bay Area. Applications currently are being accepted from biotech, pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostics, consumer and digital health companies, across all J-Labs sites, including the Houston incubator.