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MassDevelopment In The News
Massachusetts Offers Many Lures to Biotech Seeking a Home
February 23, 2007: Boston Business Journal, by Lloyd Nelson
As Phillip Astley-Sparke, president and CFO of BioVex Inc., talked business over dinner in Beacon Hill restaurant, two women at a nearby table interrupted and introduced their dining companion as a successful life sciences venture capitalist.
Astley-Sparke wasn’t surprised. After all, it’s one reason that BioVex chose Massachusetts as its U.S. base.
"Maryland and North Carolina ... they just don’t compare," Astley-Sparke said. "The ability to network here is absolutely phenomenal."
Even as business and political leaders clamor for more to be done to lure and nurture more life science business, it turns out that Massachusetts has many selling points that don’t need much advertising. BioVex was drawn to the Bay State for its ample networking opportunities. The region’s prestigious academic institutions grabbed the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research Inc. Eyegate Pharmaceuticals Inc. latched onto Massachusetts because of its excellent talent base, no extra promotion needed.
Founded in the U.K. in 1999, BioVex, a biotech company that uses the herpes simplex virus to create cancer-fighting treatments, made the move to Cambridge in 2005 to tap into the U.S. investor market. The company has since expanded to a 30,000 square feet Woburn space that houses its headquarters, lab space and a pilot manufacturing facility.
The move was helped by state incentives, including a $2.5 million loan from MassDevelopment’s Emerging Technology Fund, awarded with a calculated risk that BioVex’s clinical programs will be successful and boost the company’s employment.
In deciding to set up shop in the United States, according to Astley-Sparke, BioVex considered only two locations viable: Boston and San Francisco. And as a British company looking to establish itself in the United States, he said, only Boston made sense. While the difference between a six-hour flight and an 11-hour flight from London played a part in the decision-making, there were more central considerations.
"It comes down to the supercluster of biotechs, the academic centers of excellence and the various financial centers," Astley-Sparke said. "We can tap into those resources."
Switzerland-based Novartis AG, the parent of Novartis Institute for BioMedical Research Inc., saw the opportunity these resources presented early, when it announced in 2002 that it would move its research headquarters to Cambridge.
"Novartis was looking towards the future," said Jeffery Lockwood, director of external communications for Novartis. "They were looking where the most innovative discoveries were coming from, and the answer was Cambridge."
As a testament to the confidence Novartis has in Cambridge, it confirmed last December that it would move its Vaccines and Diagnostics divisions global headquarters there as well. "Cambridge is a driver of innovation in the industry," Lockwood said.
Pointing to the area’s ample talent base and renowned academic institutions, Lockwood says since Novartis opened shop here in 2002, it has created around 1,300 jobs.
The area’s resources also attracted Steven From, president and CEO of Eyegate Pharmaceuticals.
"Nothing can beat it," said From. "It’s difficult to compete against Massachusetts. Everything I needed is right here."
Eyegate, a French life sciences company focused on eye treatments, relocated to Waltham from Paris.
When From took over as CEO, he assessed the company’s situation and devised a new business model. Looking to distribute the first noninvasive drug delivery device for the back of the eye, From saw it was time to grow.
"Paris didn’t offer the resources," From said. "From there, the U.S. made the most sense."
Coming to the United States, From had his work cut out for him. He needed to find a site, sign a lease, hire employees, build up his space and begin experiments. And he needed to do it quickly. In Massachusetts, he found help. After From purchased a place in Waltham, his landlord, who specializes in biotech real estate, advised him on what he needed and where he could find it.
"You do pay for it, and it’s not all rosy," From said. "But you know what? It’s worth it."
Instead of relying on headhunters, From found employees through the plethora of biotech companies in the area. "I can’t afford four people who look the same," From said. "I need employees with their own talents and strengths."
Using the deep pool of biotech talent, From hired the majority of Eyegate’s 15-person operation locally.
© Copyright 2007 Boston Business Journal.
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