Building the Lab Infrastructure That Helps Biotech Startups Move Faster featuring Abubakar Jalloh

How do lab ventures and community equal company launches? Find out today. Welcome to The Connect Current, the flow of innovation in San Diego. We bring you the founders, investors, and leaders building the future across life science, tech, climate, defense, AI, and more. This is where San Diego's next chapter takes shape. Welcome to The Connect Current, the flow of innovation in San Diego. I'm your host, James Zanewicz, and this episode is being recorded at Kiln in Rancho Bernardo. When you're looking for coworking space, look no further than Kiln. Today, I'm joined by our friend and colleague, Abu Jalal, the site director of BioLabs San Diego, and one of the first people to put me to work speaking at an event in San Diego right when I got here. I don't know if you remember that, but we were working everything in during a big innovation week here last fall. And it was at BioLabs San Diego, which is part of the broader BioLabs network, supporting life science startups through fully equipped coworking lab and office supplies, operational support, programming, and community-building resources. The San Diego site is also located in Sorrento Mesa and is designed to help early-stage biocompanies build their ideas without having to build everything from scratch on day one. That makes this a great conversation because so much of the life science innovation depends on infrastructure. Founders need great science, but they also need lab space, equipment, operational support, partners, mentors, capital connections, and a community that helps them move faster. And that is just what BioLabs offers. And so today's conversation is going to dive into what it takes to build that kind of environment, what early-stage life science founders need most, because you interact with a lot of them, so you get lots of insights, and how San Diego can continue strengthening the pathways that help biotech startups move from idea to proof to concept to commercialization. Welcome, Abhu.

Thank you very much, James. Pleasure to be here.

All right, so for listeners who may know the name Biolabs but not really understand what happens behind the doors or in this space, what is Biolabs San Diego? Who do you serve? And why does this model matter for early-stage life science companies?

Yeah, I mean, if we are using the technology language, we'll say we're an operating system for biotech startups. Currently, we serve about 50 to 60 companies in our Sorrento Mesa location. And the company is very anywhere from an early stage, a gentleman, a guy, a woman, professor with a molecule, decide to want to start a company there, to a seasoned veteran from, let's say, big pharma who was like, hey, you know what? I'm done after 20, 30 years of big pharma, and now I want to get started on my own newco. So we serve a lot of those scientists.

Nice. And so when they first walk through the door, what are they usually looking for besides space?

Yeah, so space is a limitation, the first one, because, you know, unlike in the tech space, you could start your company in a garage. But here, actually, in the life sciences, you can't grow E. coli and do all that stuff in your garage, or you should not be doing that, right? So there's a lot, and more of that comes in. It's operations that BioLabs offers. So we offer a lot of that. We offer the connection between individual companies in a way. We give them access to larger pharma sponsors who are Mainly providing a lot of the instrumentations that are required to get work done. And at the end of the day, we want to make sure that if you are a scientist with a great idea, that the only thing stopping you from the final product is the hypothesis.

Oh, yeah.

We don't want anything else to be a roadblock. The hypothesis, that's science. Hypothesis is science.

You can't fix their science?

You know, I haven't figured that out yet, but if I can, I would. And there might be other limitations in there when, like, well, no, I don't want to know about your intellectual property. I want you to tell me your non-confidential information that you have, and then let's come up with a workflow. And based on that workflow, I will tell you whether we are the right place for you or not.

Yeah.

Ultimately, we want you to succeed, and your success will depend in part about meeting your next milestone.

Well, life science startups, the group you service, often face a really different set of challenges than software, tech, et cetera. They need Often, you know, much more specialized space, equipment, safety systems, different types of capital access, different types of technical support, and of course, longer time in runway. So from your seat and what you've seen with all the companies that flow through Biolabs, where do those early-stage founders most often get stuck?

Most of them, let's say the ones who are coming out of academia, there's a lot of the compliance that doesn't really translate easily when you go from a lab in an academic institution to Biolabs or in any other larger space. So you can't store stuff 18 inches from the ceiling. You can't bring in samples from outside without us knowing what that is. We're not trying to snoop around, but we actually need to know because we report back to Uncle Sam or whichever of our uncles run San Diego, right? We need to report back to them. So they get stuck a little bit on that compliance part. They also get stuck on some of the funding. There are ways of addressing that. But most importantly, I think for the earliest ones, it's identifying where and how should you run this in a very fiscally responsible manner. And that's where you need to sit down and have a really in-depth conversation. And sometimes we're able to help them. Other times we're able to put them in the right direction of someone else who can.

Well, I think what you're getting at here is that it's not just that real estate solution. It's so much more that BioLabs offers because it's infrastructure, community, Programming and support all wrapped together. It's infrastructure, community, programming, and support all wrapped together. So when you put that combination together, how does it help companies move faster or use their capital more efficiently and get further?

Yeah, I'll answer your question a different way. If I were a founder and you are my board member and you've given me about $5 million, there's a high probability that you will fire me if I were to go to a place and spend $1 million on this instrument, another $2 million on this space and something like that, right? And so we serve a different niche of founders. So founders who have below that, right, who are looking for a space and who want access to instrumentation as opposed to owning the instruments, that's one. So it's a huge savings for them. Founders who need to spend their time, which is the most important resource, on actually generating experiment as opposed to doing their procurement, their ordering, their shipping and handling and all of that. Founders who need to focus on the science. I'm going to keep repeating that, but then shouldn't be spending their time on looking at EH&S reviews or taking out the lab biohazard, waiting outside for the vendor to show up and pick that up. So we are able to remove all of the distracting elements and then let them focus on the science because that is one thing where they have to be the one and only person that actually can do well. And they're the most passionate person about that one. So at least that would be one way of coming up with that answer.

Well, and that's important because San Diego does have one of the strongest life science ecosystems in the country. We have major research institutes, startups, investors, talent, service providers, industry partners, accelerators like BioLabs, which is why we view you as such a key part of the Pathways program that Connect offers, where we're constantly referring the right people to you at the right moments. And so I want to ask you a 2-part question because you see So much more of the life science ecosystem than many people. And I want to start with where you see gaps and then end with what we do especially well. So we end on a positive note.

Yeah, let's start with what we really do well. All right.

You want to end on the negative?

No, I'm more of a— some people consider me a pessimist, but I'm actually more of a realist. And things are going well.

That's what all pessimists say. It's just real.

Is it? Yeah, it's life, right? C'est la vie. Well, but let's see, what could we do better in San Diego? Well, it's a wonderful place to be. I mean, come on, look at that. My drive here was miserable. It was too sunny. You know, I had to like squint and put on sunglasses. But, you know, beyond that, so when I started with BioLabs a year ago, and I'd been in San Diego altogether about 6 years now, and by the time I started my previous job at Scripps Research, I went into an event. My brother-in-law actually dragged me through that event. And he was like, yeah, come on out. Like, I'm going to this event that is run by Connect. Maybe you might meet a few people here and there. They'll be cool folks. I'm like, okay. I'm like, oh, there's this thing called 5/10/30 that's gonna be happening in 2 weeks. I'm like, all right, whatever. I'll come with you. Why not? And lo and behold, we showed up to that event. Christine Marcella was running the show with someone there. And then Julio showed up, was telling us the story.

And you probably met this crazy Trey Brackett guy.

Yeah. Someone exactly that looks like him or his twin brother, one of them. I'm not sure which one of them, but it could be him, or it could also be his twin brother. It was a wonderful time. And then all of a sudden, I started chatting with folks. Hey, this is what I'm doing at Scripps Research. I'm doing corporate development, and I heard about this through a family member. And I'm like, oh. Christy was like, no, talk to Taryn. I'm like, okay, I'll go talk to her. And then she gave me her phone number. Give me a call later. Like, that's weird. Why would you give me your phone number and I just met you, blah, blah, blah. And then fast forward, I show up to another event event at BioComm California. I met Tari, Tari Supraptu, and she was like, you know what, let's chat later. Let's chat later. I'm like, okay, cool. And then I go to the Global Partnering Conference and Gabriela Troubal was like, oh, I scheduled this meeting not for partnering, but I scheduled it really just to sit down and chat with you. I'm like, okay, that's weird. And all of a sudden I conclude, I'm like, okay, people are really weird here.

Yeah, it really is friendly, right?

Yeah. And guess what? You know, I reached out to you when you moved to San Diego. I'm like, we could do this. And you're like, yeah, give me a call. Like, okay, there's something in the water here.

And I wasn't from here and I did it. That's the New Orleans in me, but it's the same as San Diego.

I think so. Yeah. So there is something in the water there. So maybe, you know, with all these verbal statements, I think it all comes to, I think it's the best community that exists.

I agree.

That I have been a part of. And I think with that, There's a lot of science, a lot of good science that you can do here, and a lot of impact you can make. So beyond just the income that we make out of a living, out of a day job, you can make a lot of impact. And so that's something that I think no other place I've been to has actually been able to deliver.

Where are the gaps we need to overcome?

A couple gaps. I mean, they aren't as big of a deal, I guess. But one of the gaps would be we could use a little bit more Series A funding, right? So I see a lot of companies that come to BioLabs and they're able to get a grant from the federal government. You get an SBIR Phase 1, or if you're one of the luckiest ones, you can get a direct-to-Phase 2, but that's a rare case, right? You can't do the science and stop at an SBIR Phase 1. You need to be able to do more. So I think having a larger seed round or a Series A round, at least in the life sciences, would go a long way. And it sounds like it's a benefit to me in a way, but I think—

It's a benefit to everyone.

It is a benefit to San Diego as a whole, right? So that would be a big part that actually is. And the other part, albeit well-intended, at any point in time, there might be multiple events going on the same week. And so—

Or the same day and time. Yeah.

Exactly right. And so I'm like, I would rather, Trey, you come here and I'm going to go hang out with James. Let's do it all in one space, right? As opposed to, All right, I'm going to meet with you for an hour and a half. I'll meet with you for another 2 and a half hours. And so it's a little fractured. That could be just a matter of the geography, the car culture. I don't know, maybe. But yeah, I think those are 2 things that might limit us from getting to where we would want to get.

No, it's the abundance of things we have, which is, again, why we're so focused on Pathways and helping people navigate that and trying to be that connective tissue that pulls things together. And you do that at BioLabs, as we talked about, from many angles. One of those is your Investor Day, which you're pulling into Idea Week this year, which we're super excited about. It'll be this October. And so what kind of programming does that bring to San Diego's innovation community when you throw your Investor Day? Can you tell folks a bit about that?

So, you know, folks heard it here first from you.

Oh!

BioLabs is gonna be—

News!

Yeah, it's a wonderful—

We're excited about it.

It is wonderful.

I may have told folks already.

That is great.

I was excited the minute you said yes. I told everyone.

You know what? It's Better that it comes from James than from me.

So yeah, I am so—

That is not true. Yeah, no, that is more. So folks, you heard it here first from James. So yeah, so we are excited. I mean, it's a no-brainer to work with an organization 40, 41 years old, born out of the academic institution that is UCSD, merged with a venture group here in San Diego. All of the talent, all the board members that you rub shoulders with. Sometimes when I'm in that room, I'm like, why are they letting me in here? Why are they letting me in here?

We talk about that, but then we look at all the companies you've run into BioLabs, and I'm like, why are they letting me in here? We have mutual FOMO.

Yeah, seriously. And so when, when I show up to events like that, I'm like, okay, all right, fine. I'm just gonna hang out in my corner. But then someone recognizes me and says my name. I'm like, okay, back at you, Chelsea.

Yeah.

So it's going back to your question yet, really?

Oh, Investor Day. What, what's it gonna be like?

Yeah. So a 41-year-old organization that has been around for that long, right, has done a lot for the community. Lots of board members who are actually, shall I use clean language here or what?

You do whatever you want.

Folks who've been kicking ass and taking names for a very, very long time are members of that board, right? And so to be a part of that is actually, it's a wonderful pleasure to be a part of that group, right? And so to bring in Biolabs and integrate Biolabs into the San Diego ecosystem, I would say that would've been the goal that our original founders of San Diego Biolabs actually wanted. Susie Harvard came out here and was like, you know what? Southern California, let's put a flag here. And so she started this site here as well as the LA site, and we need someone like that. And I think my job is to try to move that forward and make her proud, just so you know, she gave me the job also.

That's awesome. Well, and for all the investors out there listening, I mean, this is a great reason to be here that week of October 19th, 'cause we have UCSD is doing their IGE, their seed stage investment conference on Tuesday. We have our Founders Summit and the Connect Venture Summit on Wednesday. We have Biolabs Investor Day on Thursday. Like, you have 3 days in a row and then California southern weather. It's like, why would you not come out? It's amazing. It's starting to get cold in the Northeast. Like, they should come visit us.

I think they should. And there's room for a lot of them out here. So actually, when I was living in Boston before moving here, I remember one day when the T actually had a giant ad of us bundled up in our coats and shoving snow, and I'm like, this would not happen in San Diego. So I thought maybe—

That would be a joke. Yeah.

Nature was talking to me, and that's probably why we're here. So no, I mean, so at Scripps while I was there, we started the first technology summit, right? And we're able to bring people from all around the world and replicated that here at BioLabs. And I think bringing together multiple heads would actually be better than just being fragmented and doing our own event on our own. And then Connect does its own thing. Scripps does its own thing. SDSU does its own thing. I think, yeah, it's a wonderful thing to have IDEA Week, which we should stand for.

Innovation, Discovery, Expression, and Art. I only know that because Kylie Hovey came up with it and trained me extensively so I didn't screw it up anymore.

All right. I can do a few of those. The art one, I'm a little bit limited, but—

We're going to go to people for that. And we have the La Jolla Playhouse Innovation Night on Monday, which brings in some of the art, which is amazing.

No kidding.

Yeah. Yeah. So Denise Bevers, who is one of our incoming chairs, 2 and a half years now. She's chair of the board of La Jolla Playoffs, so they kick it off on Monday.

No kidding.

And then we also have the Licensing Executive Society International meeting here Sunday through Wednesday, and I would love to take credit for that, but we had nothing to do with it. It just happened to fall that week too. It's a great week to be here.

Correlation and causation are the same sometimes.

We should do a whole podcast on Idea Week. Maybe I should interview Trey about that. What do you think?

I think we should.

Oh, I like that.

Let's flip the table around, right?

Yeah. All right. I know I always get in trouble when I go too long, and Trey's starting to look at me. So to close on a very Connect Current note, this is our one theme question we always ask: what drives your innovative flow?

For me, it's very personal. More recently, I've always wanted to start a company, and more recently— and by recent, I mean the last 6 years or so— my dad passed away of COVID during the height of the pandemic. And so to me, it became more of I have to continue this mission of communicating science. and ensuring that there are optionality for patients out there and their loved ones, right? We're all— the longer we live, we're all likely to succumb to a certain disease. And so having that optionality is one thing that we can't give up, right?

Yeah.

And so I'm motivated by that every day. And so any job that I take, any work that I do, I want to make sure that I'm getting people closer to that, right? It might be an idea I work on that ends up getting us there, but it might not be. And so ultimately, I want to make sure that I'm— me, along with all of our competitors, are actually doing a good job because the competitors would make you better, right? And so, yeah, so what drives it is truly that personal feeling that it is our job to make sure that things get to the loved ones or to the family members on time.

Well, yeah, I got little goosebumps from that. And I'll see— probably see me tearing up. And I'll tell you, it's that I'm thinking back to Pink on— we just had the concert for Cures recently, and Pink was riffing with her piano player who was like, oh, we're getting old. She's like, yeah, we are getting old. How lucky are we? And the fact that what we're doing can help more people get old, how lucky are we to get to do that?

Yeah, that's one tragedy that I want for everyone. I want everyone to get old.

To get older.

Yeah, 100%. Yep.

Oh, Abu, I want to thank you so much. This was a really valuable conversation. It's a tremendous reminder that innovation doesn't happen in isolation or just in a space. It happens in a community like we have in San Diego. And in every discipline, but especially in life sciences, founders need more than just that idea. They have to have the environment, infrastructure, and connections to surround them, and not just the one-offs, but entities that help those connections become more common.

Mm-hmm.

And BioLabs plays an important role in that. You help early-stage companies move from scientific promise towards real-world impact. You're helping us all get older, and that kind of connective infrastructure, that kind of connective tissue, is a huge part of San Diego's innovation story. Thank you so much for joining us.

You're welcome, and it's my pleasure, and I thank you for everything you're doing for the community. And as always, I would encourage people to take a look at what we've been doing on our website and look at Golden Tickets, look at any other award. You as a scientist should not be limited by funding, and we're here to help you with that as well.

And that's the perfect note to close on. Thanks for listening to the Connect If you want to learn more about CONNECT and explore resources across San Diego's innovation ecosystem, follow us on LinkedIn or visit connect.org. We'll see you next time on The CONNECT Current, where San Diego's innovation story keeps moving forward.

This podcast was edited by Resonate Recordings.