Lab vacancies remain high despite a booming biotech market. The deeper issue is that biotech has outsourced its foundational research to the NIH-driven academic system. Companies are left doing routine work, and outsourcing and automation reduce how much experimental capacity they need for it. Specialized experiments essential to creative, exploratory science still need labs. Much of the work at a biotech company based on academic research doesn’t require its own lab. Outsourcing manufacturing overseas doesn’t explain empty scientific research labs. Biomanufacturing facilities are in different locations, such as the research triangle, and serve different purposes. Abundant, cheap lab space is an opportunity to restructure biomedical research. Small, lean, efficient research institutes could share equipment and talent and concentrate their resources on scientific questions that require specialized work. They could do this much more cheaply and efficiently than traditional decaying academic institutions like Harvard and without supporting an enormous administrative apparatus.