There’s something going on in the world of biotech R&D. This week, Johnson & Johnson has opened an innovation center in Kendall Square, with the goal of working with startups---and filling its drug pipeline. The company’s venture-capital arm is investing in two local startups, Rodin Therapeutics and Vedanta Biosciences, and J&J is also backing LabCentral, a nonprofit that provides life-sciences lab space. It’s all part of a new strategy that pharmaceutical companies are taking to get closer to startups at an early stage.
In other innovation news…
-Car-booking service Uber is being sued in federal court by local taxi companies and a cab driver. The California-born startup has been facing legal challenges to its national expansion.
-Meanwhile, 3D-printing company Formlabs is in settlement talks with 3D Systems over a patent infringement lawsuit filed last year.
-Our startup of the week is GrabCAD, a Cambridge company that’s bringing computer-aided design and collaboration to the Web, now with help from a big strategic partner, Autodesk.
-And lastly, members of the famed MIT Blackjack Team have gone on to start influential companies like SolidWorks and Unica. But what does blackjack have in common with startups? MIT’s Bill Aulet says it comes down to long-term discipline, not taking big risks, and a strong desire to stick it to the powers that be.
