Astellas Venture Management LLC, a wholly-owned venture capital subsidiary of Astellas Pharma Inc., and LabCentral, a launchpad for early-stage life-sciences startups, are collaborating on the “Golden Ticket Competition.” A Golden Ticket offers entrepreneurial scientists or emerging biotechnology start-ups one-year usage of LabCentral’s lab facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as well as access to Astellas’ research and development (R&D) capabilities and business leaders.
 
Astellas’ sponsorship of the Golden Ticket Competition follows AVM obtaining Gold Sponsorship of LabCentral in October of 2019. With a shared commitment to discovering and advancing innovative science for the potential future benefit of patients worldwide, AVM and LabCentral are proud to support scientists and early stage companies to accelerate their novel therapeutic programs, modalities or platforms.
 
“We recognize the critical importance that external innovation serves in helping us achieve our vision of turning innovative science into value for patients,” said Maruyama, president, AVM. “By combining Astellas’ R&D capabilities and expertise with LabCentral’s launchpad and its established network in the Boston area, we can partner with emerging biotechnology companies to transform their ideas into reality, bringing hope to patients worldwide.”
 
“We are extremely pleased to be working with Astellas to foster life-science innovation in the Boston area,” said Johannes Fruehauf, LabCentral Co-founder and President. “Our labs offer a fertile environment in which biotechnology visionaries can thrive by providing them with the space and resources they need to test out, challenge, and nurture early ideas. We are excited that Astellas has chosen our Golden Ticket program to supplement their external innovation initiatives.”
 
About the Competition

Astellas is offering up to two Golden Tickets for pioneering scientists with innovative research that complements Astellas’ interest in all areas of innovation and in particularly fit with the Astellas Focus Area Approach and pipeline, including oncology, immunology/allergy, neuromuscular disorders, sensory disorders and neuroscience.
 
The competition is open from Thursday July 23, 2020 to Friday August 21, 2020. Entrepreneurial scientists, emerging life-science or biotech start-ups should submit their non-confidential pitch deck and one-page executive summary to GoldenTicket.fromAVM@astellas.com to be considered.