LifeX CEO: ‘We need to rock and roll right out of the box’

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The University of Pittsburgh’s LifeX project will open its Strip District lab for entrepreneurs in March, a first-of-its-kind facility in Pittsburgh intended to speed new pharmaceuticals and medical devices to market in meeting critical health needs.

Twelve to 15 promising startup businesses will comprise the first class to occupy the planned 20,000-square-foot space, LifeX CEO Dietrich Stephan said Tuesday. The center will offer business mentoring, as well as financial and legal help, to startups addressing some of the toughest problems in health care, including aggressive brain cancer and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

“Our focus is on very large, obvious, unmet health needs,” said Mr. Stephan, a veteran entrepreneur and chair of the department of human genetics at Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health.

“We create solutions for people who are suffering and dying. It’s about impact. We need to rock and roll right out of the box.”

Mr. Stephan outlined the LifeX project at a presentation sponsored by Bio Breakfast, a networking event held at the Pittsburgh Technology Center in South Oakland. A site in the Strip District for the new lab has been identified, but the exact location wasn’t disclosed pending the signing of a building lease.

Among the startups that will move into the new space are Peptilogics Inc., Western Oncolytics and Sharp Edge Labs Inc.

Advisers from Columbus, Ohio-based Huntington Bank and Silicon Valley Bank of Santa Clara, Calif., will offer tenants financing and San Francisco-based Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rasati will offer legal counsel,