Lagunita Biosciences

Lagunita Biosciences is a healthcare investment company and incubator that creates and grows early stage companies addressing significant clinical needs.

As an investor and incubator, Lagunita works a little bit differently than other Tarlton tenants, operating multiple companies concurrently across a shared leadership team. Lagunita came to Tarlton in 2015 looking for a space that could accommodate several of its small companies in one facility, enabling the Lagunita team to easily work across the different companies while sharing lab and office space. The company also wanted the ability to “spin out” companies into dedicated offices in the park once they reached a certain size, so the companies could be close by to facilitate continued collaboration.

In June 2015, Lagunita took over about 3,000 sqft in Menlo Park Labs and moved its three companies - many of whose technology originated down the road at Stanford - into the space.

“The biggest benefit of being able to grow Lagunita within Menlo Park Labs is the relationship of trust we've been able to build with the senior management team at Tarlton, as well as the commitment they've shown to growing and maintaining high-quality space,” said Darius Kharabi, COO of Lagunita Biosciences. “This has helped give us confidence that we'll have options to build and spin out companies in close proximity to Lagunita in the right environment.”

The companies shared office and lab space, and there was also a dedicated lab for one company that needs a more specialized space.

In early 2019, the company had reached a point where it had outgrown the incubator space. Tarlton was able to move Lagunita into a much larger office - over double the space - in 1490 O’Brien Drive.

“It's been terrific working with Tarlton,” said Kharabi. “They've been responsive to and understanding of our unique business model and have gone the extra mile to meet our lab and office space needs. One of the things we've valued most is the time and attention Tarlton invests in understanding our new expanding space needs and helping us find and customize a place in their office space so we can continue growing.”