Alexandria Real Estate Equities is accepting applications for two $125,000 Alexandria LaunchLabs Innovation Prizes for entrepreneurs who can win support for their emerging businesses and a year’s worth of space at the Cambridge, MA, startup facility by showing what the urban life-sciences real estate investment trust says is excellence in early-stage science, leadership, and business strategy.

The first prize is open to Massachusetts-based life science entrepreneurs, while the second is open to academic spinouts nominated by local technology transfer offices, Alexandria said.

Prize entries will be judged by a selection committee of strategic partners from the Cambridge biopharma and venture capital community. Applications will be accepted until May 31, 2019.

Alexandria said prize winners will be announced in June 2019. Each winner will receive $100,000 toward support research and development, as well as one year of office/laboratory space at Alexandria LaunchLabs®-Cambridge, valued at an additional $25,000.

Alexandria LaunchLabs-Cambridge celebrated its inaugural member class of seed- and early-stage life science companies with a grand opening event on Wednesday. The 20,000 rentable-square-foot space is located at the Alexandria Center® at One Kendall Square, where it is approaching six months of operations—and is now home to 13 new member companies selected on the quality of their science, leadership teams, and business strategies.

Alexandria LaunchLabs-Cambridge offers member companies flexible, turnkey office/laboratory space, mentorship, and access to Alexandria’s network, as well as strategic risk capital through the Alexandria Seed Capital Platform, designed to provide startup companies with opportunities to apply for financing.

Alexandria announced the two LaunchLabs Innovation Prizes and the grand opening of LaunchLabs-Cambridge along with its first investment in a Cambridge startup through its Alexandria Seed Capital Platform.

Holobiome, which received an undisclosed amount of financing, is a developer of novel microbiome-based therapeutics for diseases of the nervous system, using a mechanism-based approach to look at the gut-brain axis.

Holobiome recently announced a second research collaboration with Johnson & Johnson (J&J) Innovation to create novel microbiome therapeutics for digestive disorders. J&J Innovation is Johnson & Johnson’s umbrella for entities created to support collaborations with early-stage partners.

“Alexandria LaunchLabs-Cambridge and the complementary Alexandria Seed Capital Platform offer a one-of-a-kind, unique environment focused on building highly successful companies within the Alexandria ecosystem that will continue to drive the innovation that is key to treating and curing disease,” Joel S. Marcus, executive chairman and founder of Alexandria Real Estate Equities and its strategic venture capital arm Alexandria Venture Investments, said in a statement.

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