Covington Life Science Partners, a shared research and development lab in Northern Kentucky, will be located at the new OneNKY Center in Covington, Kentucky, officials announced Thursday.
The lab, which received $15 million from Gov. Andy Beshear and Kentucky lawmakers, is considered potentially catalytic for the city and the region and hopes to be an incubator for early-stage companies, including those in the biotech, biopharma, medical device, digital health and health technology fields.
It will be located in 15,000 square feet on the second floor of the planned Class-A office building, which is being constructed by the Northern Kentucky Port Authority. That’s up from 10,000 square feet originally envisioned to accommodate 15 startups, plus shared amenities.
“Having a state-of-the-art wet lab in Covington will be a strong asset … in attracting entrepreneurs and biotech companies to Northern Kentucky,” said Covington Life Sciences Partners co-chair Chuck Scheper, who chairs the board of Bexion Pharmaceuticals.
The lab’s lease will be for 99 years and valued at $12 million, with the remaining funds used to build out and buy equipment.
“The Covington Life Science Lab will build on Covington’s growing reputation as a hub for high-tech advancements in this critical sector, and it will bring to fruition our vision when we started this process two years ago,” said Covington Mayor Joe Meyer. “Companies like Bexion, CTI and Gravity Diagnostics are wowing the world, and we hope this lab will help many other new companies along that same path.”
The location is a few blocks from CTI Clinical Trial and Consulting Services’ headquarters and also near Gravity Diagnostics, Bexion, and BioWish Technologies.
“The new incubation lab in Covington will put our region on the map in the life sciences industry and enhance our biotech and biopharma research and development ecosystem,” said CTI Clinical Trial & Consulting Services CEO Tim Schroeder.
Covington Life Sciences Partners has seven board members: Scheper, Schroeder, BE NKY Growth Partnership CEO Lee Crume, St. Elizabeth Healthcare CEO Garren Colvin, consultant Dr. Dinesh Ganapathy, Northern Kentucky University Vice President for Health Innovation Dr. Valerie Hardcastle and Gravity CEO Tony Remington.
“It’s very, very important,” Crume said. “This facility can lean on the resources of the other nonprofit entities that are in the building. It allows them to lower the operating costs.”
