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Biotech / Medical : Vion (formerly Oncorx) interesting play on Gene Therapy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Oravetz who wrote (215)	12/13/2000 12:59:07 PM
From: Jim Oravetz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 370

SemiOT: Science Park biotech firm joins exodus Wayne E. Travers Jr., Register Staff December 13, 2000 NEW HAVEN — Science Park is losing another tenant: Cellular Genomics Inc. is moving to Branford, a company executive said Tuesday. R. Bennett Muskin, Cellular Genomics’ vice president for business development, said the company is relocating to a 50,000-square-foot Branford Commerce Park facility on East Industrial Road. Cellular Genomics — which produces technology used by drug manufacturers specializing in genomics, the science of tailoring drugs to a patient’s genetic make-up — will occupy 15,000 square feet, Muskin said. The company also has first rights on expansion into additional space, he said. Cellular Genomics’ move is the second in a season that has seen another tenant of the Newhallville facility packing boxes and renting moving vans. Last month, another Science Park tenant, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, announced it had moved most of its operations to a Cheshire facility. Another growing Science Park firm, Vion Pharmaceuticals, also is looking for a new home. But Muskin said his company’s move should not interpreted as a sign that it is dissatisfied with the way Science Park has been managed. Cellular Genomics had been occupying 4,500 square feet in Science Park under an agreement with Science Park’s management and Connecticut Innovations Inc., which picked up the cost of laboratory construction, Muskin said. The deal with Connecticut Innovations — a quasi-public organization that provides venture capital to high-tech firms — was reached with the understanding Cellular Genomics would move to a new location when it needed to expand, he said "Without CII’s contribution, it would have been difficult to get going," Muskin said. Cellular Genomics considered staying in Science Park, he said, but lost potential growth space to a Genaissance Pharmaceuticals expansion. "That took away an option," he said, adding that the Branford location gives Cellular Genomics "an opportunity to expand within the building." Cellular Genomics should have laboratories in the Branford facility in operation by early March, he added. Muskin doesn’t consider the trend toward suburban relocation as being detrimental to a biotechnology community in the Elm City. "Biotech regionalism nationwide expands beyond a single city," he said. Richard Grossi, chairman of Science Park’s board, said Cellular Genomics’s outgrowing Science Park was "a natural progression we have to get used to." Grossi said he would like to see a regional and statewide effort to develop laboratory space to accommodate new or growing companies. The Newhallville complex, with only 80 acres, has its limitations, he added, and " cannot be all things to all people." In October, the Science Park Development Corp.’s board of directors signed an agreement with Massachusetts-based Lyme Properties LLC to lease buildings and lots for private development. Lyme Properties developed the One Kendall Square technology district in Cambridge, Mass. Lyme Properties founder David Clem said his firm had not yet finalized its agreement with Science Park when Cellular Genomics officials approached them with expansion plans. "We were not yet in a position to make them an offer in the timeframe they required," Clem said. Vion officials, however, are working with Lyme Properties on a proposal to stay in Science Park, Clem added, and his organization is working "to handle their expansion requirements." ©New Haven Register 2000 Jim