Eli Lilly Expands Third Tech Facility this Year, Adding Another 50 Jobs in New York

Eli Lilly Expands 3rd Tech Facility this Year, Adding Another 50 Jobs in New York
October 9, 2015
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Company announced today that it is going to expand its facilities at the Alexandria Center for Life Science in New York City.

The Alexandria Center is a collaborative urban campus for life science companies. Lilly indicates it plans to add 30,000 square feet of space there and hire an additional 50 new employees. It is expected to be finished in 2016, and emphasize efforts in translational immuno-oncology, as well as the development of a Lilly “portal,” for local academic scientists to access.

“Going forward, immuno-oncology research will focus on new ways to harness the immune system and on combination therapies with targeted agents,” said Jan Lundberg, executive vice president of science and technology and president of Lilly Research Laboratories in a statement. “Cancer is a complex disease. Our diverse research approach and expansion in New York will ultimately put us in a strong position to advance the delivery of innovative medicines to patients.”

Immuno-oncology is the big new area in cancer research. Just Wednesday, MD Anderson Cancer Center and Seattle-based Theraclone Sciences, Inc., announced they were launching an immuno-oncology antibody discovery company, OncoResponse. In August, MD Anderson formed an alliance with Esperance Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to stimulate development of its lead anti-cancer candidate EP-100 for ovarian cancer. It also signed an agreement with Merck & Co. to evaluate anti-PD-1 therapy Keytruda in combination with other drugs and cancer treatments.

Other companies focusing on immuno-oncology include AstraZeneca PLC , MedImmune , Sanofi , Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. , and Roche .

Immuno-oncology works on at least two levels — to program and stimulate the body’s own immune system to attack cancer cells, and to inhibit checkpoint molecules produced by tumors that slow down the body’s immune system or allow them to hide from the immune system. The companies typically focus on a cocktail of therapeutics that does both things at the same time, essentially taking the foot off the immune system’s brake while simultaneously stepping on the gas.

In July, Lilly announced that it was expanding its Lilly Biotechnology Center in San Diego, Calif., increasing space by 140 percent and upping staffing by 70 percent. That breaks down to an additional 175,000 square feet of work space and an additional 130 new jobs. That space will be used for discovery chemistry, research technologies and biotechnology focused on immunology and immunological clinical development.

“The molecular discovery capabilities at the Lilly Biotechnology Center represent state of the art platforms to enable pharmaceutical innovation across the continuum of small and large molecules,” said Alan Palkowitz, vice president, discovery chemistry research and technology at Lilly in a statement in July. “The expanded investment will further Lilly’s leadership in these core areas and catalyze future discoveries.”

In April, the company revealed plans to open a new innovation center at 450 Kendall Street in Cambridge, Mass., one of the centers of life science companies in the U.S. Lilly will take the entire third floor of the building, approximately 17,000 square feet, and will be dubbed the Lilly Cambridge Innovation Center. This location “will service as a portal for external partnerships and collaboration activities,” said John Lechleiter, Lilly’s chairman, president and chief executive officer to BizJournals.

Lilly indicated it planned to hire about 30 scientists and engineers for the Cambridge location, an increase of about 25 percent.

All of this expansion is designed to encourage collaboration with academics and other researchers, while pushing the company’s efforts in oncology, diabetes, neurodegeneration, immunology and pain management. “We are prepared to push the boundaries to accelerate drug discovery,” said Lundberg in a statement. “Our expanded capabilities at the New York site will further Lilly’s expertise in our core therapeutic areas and help pave the way for broader collaboration with leading academic, health care and industry colleagues.”

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