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PROVIDENCE – For the Rhode Island Life Science Hub, 2026 is a pretty big year.
Tasked with growing the industry locally, the quasi-public organization, launched in 2023, has been gearing up for the opening of Ocean State Labs, the state’s first life science incubator in the burgeoning lab cluster within Providence’s Jewelry District.
According to Dr. Mark A. Turco, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Life Science Hub, the moment is now only weeks away.
“It’s a very exciting and big year for the state of Rhode Island,” Turco said.
Speaking with the Globe, Turco discussed the lab’s inaugural year ahead, funding, and the pitch he makes to attract companies to the capital city.
Q. What’s it like to finally be arriving at this moment after years in the making?
Turco: Specifically, about Ocean State Labs at 150 Richmond St. in Providence, we have the infrastructure here that can provide companies with resources that many founders could not find in the state, and that caused companies to move out of the area.
It’s really exciting now to have this physical space supporting the pathways from discovery all the way through commercialization.
In September, you announced these five inaugural companies that will move into Ocean State Labs during the first quarter of 2026. Have any moved in yet?
Our first four companies – OncoLux, Inc., Pax Therapeutics, XM Therapeutics, and P53 Therapeutics – will actually move in Feb. 2, and the facility received its certificate of occupancy just prior to the end of this last calendar year. So the month of January here has been really doing some punch list items and moving furniture in and getting the facility ready for science.
The entire lab space can accommodate up to 30 companies. Has the roster grown beyond the inaugural five?
There’s actually six companies that have signed leases to move in, and there are a number of others that are in the pipeline.
What’s the pitch you make to companies about moving to Providence?
One, this is a great state to come and work in. Two, it is also an opportunity for a company coming in to leverage the resources of our academic institutions, as well as leveraging our growing workforce that is becoming more and more experienced in the life science sector. One thing that resonates with companies on the smaller side is that a company moving here to Rhode Island can be a big fish in a small pond.
I think our story is pretty compelling. My hope is that Rhode Island is seen in the life science sector as somebody that could house and manage and work with entities from inception all the way through to commercialization.
The Rhode Island Life Science Hub launched with a $45 million investment from the General Assembly in 2023 and it’s going to need another round of funding this year. What have you heard from lawmakers?
We have submitted an operational budget [and] a capital budget. What we do know is that in the governor’s budget, there is an innovation bond that will be upwards of $115 million that [Rhode Island] Commerce will oversee for defense, marine, and life sciences. So my hope is if the voters were to move forward with approval of the bond, that would give us an opportunity to continue to build out what we are working to do and have done to this date. It’s still a bit unclear where we stand with regards to operational and capital budget requests.
Are you concerned about not being able to get that kind of investment?
As a president and CEO, if you weren’t always concerned about your funding, that would be of concern. But I feel very confident that we will continue to have support to drive these initiatives. The speaker, the governor, the General Assembly, our federal delegations here have been incredibly supportive to date. We as a hub and certainly through our board of directors have had regular conversations with state leadership about continuing the vital work of the Rhode Island Life Science Hub.
What’s your vision for what the incubator will look like at the end of its inaugural year?
My hope is that our incubator becomes a very vibrant community of companies and innovators, and that as we move through this calendar year, there continues to be great work and that some of these companies continue to mature within the Ocean State Labs environment.
We’ve now provided state-of-the-art infrastructure in our state. Let’s work these companies that are now part of that ecosystem to really help them mature.
This interview has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.
The Boston Globe’s weekly Ocean State Innovators column features a Q&A with Rhode Island innovators who are starting new businesses and nonprofits, conducting groundbreaking research, and reshaping the state’s economy. Send tips and suggestions to [email protected].
Christopher Gavin can be reached at [email protected].
