Johnson & Johnson Innovation has set its sights on European biomedical innovation by opening a bioincubator to identify early-stage companies and nurture them at its Janssen campus in Beerse, Belgium. The initiative, called JLINX, launched in March with undisclosed venture funding from the company's J&J Innovation-JJDC venture arm. JLINX will host startups and provide entrepreneurs with access to J&J's scientific, technical, and business expertise, as well as an opportunity to share ideas and collaborate. J&J will make venture investments in the companies but will not hold rights to any products they commercialize. J&J said it hopes to bring in external investors for JLINX companies. Bioqube Ventures, the incubator's independent management arm, will manage the investment portfolio, work with external investors, and help choose new companies for the incubator. J&J said JLINX will have a particular focus on human microbiome research. It is accepting applications from startups and will be fully operational this summer. J&J's other regional innovation centers include Boston, California, London, and Shanghai.

In March, J&J also unveiled the JLABS incubator in Houston. The facility is housed within the Texas Medical Center (TMC) Innovation Institute. J&J said the incubator, dubbed JLABS @ TMC, will initially house 21 companies and can accommodate up to 50. Several resident biotechs will focus on oncology and immuno-oncology. TMC JLAB joins a network of J&J Innovation life science incubators in Boston, San Diego, and the San Francisco Bay Area and a planned incubator in Toronto.