May 2, 2016
By Mark Terry, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
EMD Serono announced today that it was building a $12 million expansion of its research-and-development facility in Billerica, Mass. EMD Serono is the U.S. subsidiary of Darmstadt, Germany-based Merck KgaA .
The expansion will add 30,000 square feet to the existing space at the Sagamore Building, and will include various amenities, including open plan work areas, a central auditorium, and numerous meeting spaces. Construction is expected to start this month and be completed by June 2018.
The expansion will accommodate the hiring of about 100 scientists and 50 commercial staffers, joining the current 400 employees at that location.
“The purpose of this expansion is to advance innovation and knowledge-sharing across our R&D teams, with the goal of accelerating the discovery and development of new therapies for patients in need,” said Luciano Rossetti, head of global research and development for Merck KGaA, in a statement. “This investment is a reflection of our strengthening footprint in the Boston area and in the U.S. as a leader in biopharma.”
EMD Serono, which employs about 1,200 people in the U.S., was created in 2006 when Germany-based Merck acquired Switzerland’s Serono SA for $13.3 billion, which had had its U.S. headquarters in Billerica. Germany’s Merck is a separate company from U.S.-based Merck & Co. As a result, the Germany-based Merck could not use the Merck name in the U.S. and Canada, so adopted the EMD Serono name in the U.S.
Last year the company brought in $1.6 billion in North American sales, about 11 percent of Merck KGaA’s $14.6 billion worldwide sales. Serono’s biggest drugs are Rebif, for multiple sclerosis, Gonal-f for infertility, Saizen for growth hormone deficiency, and Serostim to assist HIV patients in increasing weight.
The company is expected to submit Avelumab to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) later this year. Avelumab is an immuno-oncology compound being evaluated to treat a rare skin cancer, Merkel cell carcinoma.
“If you look at our pipeline, Avelumab is really the foundation, going forward,” said Gary Zieziula, EMD Serono’s president and managing director, to The Boston Globe. “It will establish our footprint in immuno-oncology.”
Avelumab was the result of a collaboration deal with Pfizer , and they expect to jointly commercialize the drug. It is also being tested in ovarian, bladder, gastric and lung cancers. Pfizer and Serono are also co-promoting Xalkori, a lung cancer treatment developed by Pfizer.
EMD Serono’s expansion in Billerica, about 25 miles outside of Boston, is in keeping with Boston and Cambridge as one of the top hotspots for life science activity, with the San Francisco Bay Area being the other major spot.
“The growth of EMD Serono’s Billerica campus over the past several years and its decision to continue to grow in Massachusetts is a testament to our state’s leadership in biopharmaceutical innovation,” said Robert Coughlin, president and chief executive officer of MassBio, the state’s life sciences trade organization, in a statement. “The company’s long-standing investment here ensures that we continue to retain and attract the top scientific minds and that the medical advances that make a real difference in people’s lives occur here in Massachusetts.”
