“We competed and won, and I think that really speaks volumes about the strengths of bioengineering and life sciences in Chicago,” said Kelley, who was named president of the Chicago biohub. “Life sciences can really drive economic development, and the more jobs we can create in Chicago, the more we’re going to serve our community.
Trammell Crow Co., run by billionaire Harlan Crow, recently opened Fulton Labs, a 16-story complex in the trendy West Loop neighborhood meant to attract life sciences firms. That’s where the Chan Zuckerberg biohub will be. Ramille Shah, co-founder of a startup spun out of Northwestern that’s now based in Fulton Labs, said there were only two options when her firm, Dimension Inx, was looking for wet lab space in 2018.“Northwestern let us rent space there for a year, but then we had to move out,” she said. “Finding a space where we can do cell and tissue culture and chemical synthesis, it was hard. Now you see infrastructure growing.
“It’s still difficult to get the attention of VC funding that the east and west coasts are getting,” said Shah, who recently raised $15 million for her company, which makes biomaterials that can be 3D-printed.