Johnson & Johnson Joins The HELIX Tech/Science Innovation Campus Coming To New Brunswick

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Johnson & Johnson just signed on to join the HELIX, the science/tech campus being built in the heart of New Brunswick.

HELIX stands for Health + Life Science Exchange, and it's under construction on George and Albany streets, steps from the New Brunswick train station. The plan is the HELIX will become a science innovation campus for the entire Northeast — a place where new vaccines are invented or groundbreaking cancer treatments are discovered.

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The HELIX will consist of three buildings; Building H-1 will be the first to go up, according to the New Brunswick Development Corporation (DEVCO), which is overseeing construction of the HELIX.

Building H-1 will be the new home of Rutgers Medical School. It is scheduled to open in 2026.

Building H-1 will also house the NJ Innovation Hub, or the "Hub" as it's called. That's where Johnson & Johnson will operate their Johnson & Johnson Exchange, powered by Portal Innovations, venture capitalists who invest in the life sciences.

The intention is the Hub will be a launch pad for tech/science start-ups.

The door is wide open for other New Jersey pharmaceutical companies, such as Novo Nordisk (the maker of Ozempic) or Merck, to rent space at the HELIX, Gov. Phil Murphy said before he left office last year.

RWJBarnabas and Hackensack Meridian Health previously announced they will share research labs at the HELIX. Nokia Bell Labs plans to leave their Berkeley Heights headquarters and relocate to the HELIX in 2028, occupying all of the second tower, building H-2. Israel's Tel Aviv University plans to open a satellite campus there. Even Clydz cocktail bar, a locals' favorite underground watering hole, is relocating to the HELIX. Clydz will move into the ground floor of building H-1 this September.

Clydz Cocktail Bar Is Relocating To The New Brunswick HELIX (March 2026)

Tel Aviv University The Newest Tenant At Rutgers' Tech Hub (2021)