The drug company plans to combine its Cambridge operations at the laboratory and office building at the site by the end of the first half of 2023.
Bristol Myers Squibb inked a lease with DivcoWest for a 360,000-square-foot property at 250 Water Street in Cambridge Crossing, in Massachusetts. A new building is being built with an expected completion date in late 2022. The drug company plans to combine its Cambridge operations at the laboratory and office building at the site by the end of the first half of 2023.
“At Cambridge Crossing (CX), our mission is to create a home for innovative companies that inspires collaboration and scientific breakthroughs,” said Mark Roopenian, managing director at DivcoWest.
He went on to say, “We are thrilled that global leader Bristol Myers Squibb has chosen CX as their future home. CX is designed to be a network of forward-thinking changemakers like Bristol Myers Squibb, and we are proud to create a space for them at 250 Water Street so that they can pursue discoveries that positively transform patients’ lives.”
Other companies at CX include Philips North America, Sanofi, and Cerevel Therapeutics. CX has filled about 1.7 million square feet and has about 110,000 square feet of science at technology space at the Water Street site and an additional 600,000 square feet in future buildings.
The location neighbors Kendall Square, about a mile away, which is one of the premier locations for biopharma development in the country, if not the world. It is close to MIT and Harvard. In addition, DivcoWest notes that once it is completed, it will be connected to two MBTA stops and be surrounded by 11 acres of open space, as well as access to an “eclectic food scene,” retail sites and more than 3,000 residences in apartments and condominiums.
Bristol Myers Squibb currently operates out of Kendall Square and another site a few miles away. At those two locations, the company focuses on cancer resistance, immunology diseases and fibrotic diseases.
Sanofi is signing a lease on a 900,000-square-foot site in order to consolidate 2,700 staffers that are currently spread across Massachusetts. They will fill two buildings at Cambridge Crossing. Sanofi inked their lease in late 2018.
Three days ago, on August 17, Bristol Myers Squibb dropped $475 million for an exclusive license to Dragonfly Therapeutics’ interleukin-12 (IL-12) immunotherapy program, including its extended half-life cytokine DF6002 for solid and hematological cancers. DF6002 is a monovalent IL-12 immunoglobulin Fc fusion protein that is designed to establish an inflammatory tumor microenvironment.
Last month, Dragonfly launched a Phase I/II trial of the drug in advanced solid tumors. It is testing it alone and in combination with checkpoint inhibitors in patients with locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors. It expects to then expand into specific indications. Bristol Myers Squibb plans to advance the work into DF6002 in oncology and hematology.
“We look forward to our continued work with Dragonfly to further guide the program’s clinical data at this pivotal point in its development, as we continue to deliver on our commitment to serve more patients with cancer,” said Rupert Vessey, BMS’s president of Research & Early Development Group.
Under the terms of the agreement for DF6002, BMS is paying Dragonfly $475 million upfront. Dragonfly is eligible for performance-based development, regulatory and commercial milestones as well as up to 24% royalties on worldwide net sales.
This came about 10 days after the company licensed its fourth TriNKET immunotherapy drug from Dragonfly. TriNKET (Tri-specific, NK cell Engager Therapies) bind to proteins expressed on cancer cells and NK cells and provides “an active connection between cancer cells, and cells of the immune system including NK cells themselves, T cells, B cells, and other cells that help attack and kill cancer.”
