Shire is expanding its innovation play in Cambridge, MA, as it looks to boost its presence in Kendall Square and create a 550,000-square-foot campus focused on rare diseases.
The Irish-HQ’d biopharma said it has penned a new lease with BioMed Realty for the building at the beating heart of biotech in Kendall Square and is set to take up its new digs in 2019.
Shire already has its own place just opposite and said its expanded ops “will create a cross-disciplinary Kendall Square campus, with teams spanning research, clinical development, medical affairs, business development, and other related functions.”
It hopes that scientists will rub shoulders and create some extra sparks of innovation for its rare disease pipeline.
“By expanding our presence in Cambridge, with its close proximity to best-in-class hospitals, research institutions, universities and a thriving biotechnology community, we will strengthen our ties with the early innovators around us to shape the next generation of breakthrough therapies for patients with high unmet needs,” said Shire’s CEO Flemming Ornskov.
“These plans signify our continued growth and our deep and enduring commitment to serving patients, families and caregivers across the globe who are affected by rare diseases and highly specialized conditions.”
Shire said it will retain its current office, lab, and manufacturing space in Massachusetts, as well as its site in Lexington.
The company also said that it was undertaking a “strategic review” to see who will be moving over to the digs in the coming years. It noted that it already had around 400 positions currently up for grabs in Massachusetts.
Shire hopes to have better luck than some its recent pipeline meds, as a few weeks back it quietly got rid of its rare, midstage candidate SHP610, a med that was being studied in patients with Sanfilippo syndrome type A (MPS-IIIA), after failing to hit its primary endpoint of slowing cognitive decline in patients.
By Ben Adams
Source: Fierce Biotech
Giovanni Caforio, the former CEO of Bristol Myers Squibb, is set to become the next board chairman of Novartis, which on Tuesday proposed the pharmaceutical industry veteran as its pick to replace Joerg Reinhardt in the role next year. Reinhardt has served as Novartis’ chair since 2013 and plans to retire when his 12-year term ends in 2025.
GE HealthCare has raised the curtain on two ultrasound systems equipped with artificial intelligence programs designed to assist in diagnosing conditions in women’s health, including obstetric exams. The Voluson Signature 20 and 18 imaging systems include AI tools capable of automatically identifying and annotating measurements of fetal anatomy.
Scientists from the University of Edinburgh’s School of Chemistry have revealed a new sustainable method of manufacturing complex molecules that could reduce waste produced during drug production. The method published in Nature Chemistry could help to prevent severe side effects caused by drugs that can exist as enantiomers.
