BOSTON — Alexandria Real Estate Equities, an urban office REIT and owner, operator and developer focused on collaborative life science, technology and agtech campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, announced the launch of a first-of-its-kind consortium to catalyze advanced biological innovation and manufacturing in Greater Boston.
As a founding member of this consortium of top-tier academic institutions, research hospitals and life science industry partners in Massachusetts, Alexandria will serve on the board of directors alongside Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies and GE Healthcare Life Sciences.
Additional contributing members include Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Children’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital, MilliporeSigma and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The powerful consortium has strategically convened to address the critical need for the development of important advanced technologies and to meet the region’s strong demand for increased access to next-generation cell and viral vector manufacturing production, as well as to provide a novel and impactful workforce development platform to help accelerate the translation of emerging technologies into transformative medicines that aim to treat, prevent or even cure devastating diseases.
“Alexandria has been a leader in developing the Greater Boston life science cluster since we entered the market in 1997. For more than 20 years, we have been driving innovation, job growth and economic diversity in this vital cluster by providing leading-edge life science companies with highly sustainable, first-in-class infrastructure, strategic venture capital and meaningful thought leadership,” said Joel S. Marcus, executive chairman and founder of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. and Alexandria Venture Investments. “As a socially responsible S&P 500 company that is laser focused on applying our truly unique and unparalleled expertise and experience to fulfill our mission to improve human health and nutrition, we are very proud to be a founding member of this world-class consortium to create an innovative and collaborative center involving advanced technologies and next-generation manufacturing. The highly respected member institutions and corporations have the scientific talent and the engineering capabilities to deliver truly novel therapies to patients suffering today from serious and life-threatening diseases and also to design the next-generation processes that will accelerate the translation of tomorrow’s cost-effective, lifesaving medicines from bench to bedside.”
Today, Alexandria’s operating asset base in Greater Boston consists of more than 6.5 million RSF of highly leased office/laboratory space, including 5 million RSF in the Cambridge submarket. The company’s collaborative campuses in this vital cluster support a diversified collection of high-quality life science and technology tenants, which include multinational pharmaceutical, public and private biotechnology, global technology and agtech companies, as well as institutional entities. With an additional 1 million RSF of value-creation development projects targeted for delivery through 2022, Alexandria uniquely brings to the consortium an unmatched ability to plan the site selection and technical implementation of the new center for advanced technologies innovation and manufacturing, in close proximity to the renowned institutions, hospitals and innovative companies seeking enhanced access to manufacturing capabilities that will speed up development for a new era of life-changing medicines.
