Janssen Research & Development is adding fresh support to drug industry’s open innovation movement with the launch of a pay-as-you-need-it lab space for 18 to 20 emerging biotech companies in San Diego.

Janssen Labs will offer space and lab equipment on short-term renewable leases, all with “no-strings-attached,” says Diego Miralles, site head for the West Coast Research Center. That means Janssen takes no stake in the companies it will house, nor are the companies guaranteed any affiliation with Janssen, though clearly there’s potential for such relationships to develop.

“We need to figure out how to help the biotech industry be very healthy and thrive,” says Miralles. “The success of the biotech industry, in the long run, will be our success because that’s where a lot of our products come from.”

The 30,000 square foot set-aside housing the labs, equipment, and administrative space was surplus within Janssen’s own research center and is, ultimately, overseen by Janssen’s parent company Johnson & Johnson.

The space is intended to provide a capital efficient, flexible lab environment for start-up companies pursuing new technologies and research platforms to advance medical care, Janssen says.

If the experiment is successful in San Diego, the company may roll it out in other cities in the future, says Miralles. “This is one of many experiments, as an industry we should be conducting. We’ll learn from it. It’s not going to be perfect because obviously, not all ideas are good ideas. So we have to figure out what is good about the idea? What is bad about the idea? We’ll adjust. But from the response, it seems like there was a tremendous need in the community for it.”

“This arrangement allows the companies to focus on the development of the science instead of setting up and managing the labs. We believe this open innovation model will minimize cost and time and is an effective way for companies to develop and focus on research.”

To date, Janssen Labs’ management team has received and reviewed more than 100 applications. It is evaluating applicants based on criteria such as compelling science and technology, medical and market need, team strength, and demonstrated financial solvency.