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This year there have been more and more signs of Cambridge’s
importance on an international level.
Pharmaceutical companies are moving in and expanding, foreign biotech trade groups are visiting, and U.S. subsidiaries of foreign companies are relocating here. A few of the latest happenings… In May, Swiss company Novartis AG said it was opening a $260 million research center in Cambridge’s Kendall Square. Scientists at the Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research will focus on the discovery of new drugs for diabetes, cardiovascular and infectious diseases using high-throughput technologies. Company officials said Novartis decided to open such a center in Cambridge because the city was the one major biomedical center where it did not yet have a presence. Dr. Mark Fishman, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and chief of cardiology at Massachusetts General Hospital, is taking on the role of president at Novartis’ new research institute. Novartis not alone In addition to Novartis’ interest in Cambridge, pharmaceutical companies Merck and Wyeth have been investing in facilities. Wyeth has added 215,000 square feet to its Cambridge campus and hired 100 new employees. Merck Research Laboratories is building a 26-lab research campus near the Fenway. It is expected to be completed by 2004 and will employ 300 scientists. A regional French industry group — BioTeam Paris — has become one of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council’s latest members. BioTeam includes about 20 young biotech companies that hope to establish ties throughout the world. Dominique Pagant, secretary general of the Paris Regional Development Agency, said that BioTeam contacted the MBC late last year. Boston is an “unavoidable” place for biotech companies, she said. “It’s the beginning of a cooperation — a beginning of a partnership. The companies that work with us would like the possibility of working from Boston.” Boston and Paris share strengths in research, making the joining of forces a rather natural development. MBC membership represents the French group’s first link with the United States. In addition to its member companies considering the possibility of opening offices in Cambridge, BioTeam hopes American companies will learn more about biotech in France. “We want to give (American companies) the opportunity to know our region,” Pagant said. |
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