Global law firm DLA Piper has formed a new partnership with LaunchBio, a national nonprofit network of life sciences innovators that expanded to North Texas last year, to provide educational programs and connections for local scientist entrepreneurs.
Together, LaunchBio and DLA Piper will provide support to life science startups in North Texas. The intent is to create a network that can boost companies locating to the Biotech+ Hub at Pegasus Park, a 23-acre mixed-use social purpose project from Lyda Hill Philanthropies and J. Small Investments that will be located near the Dallas Medical District.
A major component of Pegasus Park, which is slated to open in early 2021, is the Biotech+ Hub. The hub is expected to be approximately 37,000 square feet with a lab, training, and office area for a premium and flexible experience. It’s also meant to be the source of local innovation in life sciences.
LaunchBio, in partnership with TechFW recently announced that Dallas was getting its first-ever ThinkLab program, a non-seed startup accelerator that advances the commercialization of biotech, medtech, and digital health technologies.
The eight Dallas-based startups—all “first-time scientist entrepreneurs”—will participate in a 12-week virtual intensive training program with the hope that they will one day locate their companies to Pegasus Park.
“We are strengthening the support network for scientists in Dallas who want to take a game-changing idea from the research lab to the marketplace for the benefit of human health,” LaunchBio CEO Becky Beattie previously said. “It’s part of LaunchBio’s overall strategy to elevate the North Texas region’s standing as a top-tier biotech hub.”
LaunchBio’s latest deal with DLA Piper will only accelerate that mission.
DLA Piper is known for helping life science companies navigate the legal and regulatory landscape. The two companies plan to work collaboratively to accelerate the commercialization of technologies developed in North Texas, elevating Dallas to be a top destination for life sciences.
“We see a strong alignment between our firm and the innovative startups that LaunchBio serves,” Danny Tobey, a partner at DLA Piper, said in a statement. “Starting and growing a successful biotech company is challenging, and the creation of this new center of activity and resources will help founders save time and capital as they validate their science and business models. My team and I look forward both to contributing our knowledge and insights and building long-term relationships with these emerging companies on their path to success.”
Per the agreement, DLA Piper has entered into a Platinum Founding sponsorship agreement with LaunchBio.
The law firm, which has lawyers located in more than 40 countries, will be a featured presenter at quarterly event series, the Larger Than Life Science programs. The events are open to anyone interested in the local biotech and healthcare innovation scene.
DLA Piper will also participate in all of LaunchBio’s programs in Dallas. That includes: virtual educational webinars, invitation-only gatherings for scientific founders, and Invest in Cures, its flagship forum that explores how disease foundations are accelerating the commercialization of early-stage technologies and therapies.
The first program offered through the partnership will be the Founders Circle on March 18. The event is open to startup founding teams in a peer-to-peer discussion format.
“DLA Piper’s support for LaunchBio’s work demonstrates the firm’s confidence in the potential for growth that the support network for the Biotech+ Hub at Pegasus Park represents for the community,” Beattie said in a statement. “We look forward to working collaboratively to accelerate the commercialization of technologies developed at the area’s leading universities.”
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