December 7, 2015
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
FOSTER CITY, Calif. – Ground has been broken on a $149 million construction project for gene-sequencing firm Illumina Inc. , that spans more than 20 acres and will help bolster the company’s presence in the Bay Area, the Daily Journal reported.
In January, Illumina and entered into a 15-year lease for a new 360,000 square foot, state-of-the-art, build-to-suit campus in Foster City, Calif. BioMed bought the property for $37 million in 2013. Illumina could extend its lease.
The campus, which is expected to open in 2017, will include laboratory and office buildings, a large central quad with an outdoor amphitheater, playing fields and meeting spaces.
In addition, Illumina has an option to expand the campus with the development of a third building providing at least an additional 160,000 square feet, which would bring the campus to a total of at least 520,000 square feet.
“… this campus will provide us with an opportunity to bring together employees from several different sites as we continue to optimize and grow our presence in the Bay Area,” Marc Stapley, chief financial officer for Illumina said in a January statement. “We also expect this campus will provide stronger ties with our customers and partners, while establishing a state-of-the-art work environment to retain and attract the most talented employees in our industry.”
The new campus will help bolster Illumina’s expanding gene-sequencing business, which includes a new partnership with Hartwell Autism Research and Technology Initiative to establish a genomic database for autism spectrum disorder. Also in August, Illumina formed Helix, a consumer genomics company located in the Bay Area. The new company will offer affordable genomic sequencing and database service for samples provided through third-party partners. Customers will have access to their own data and be able to utilize a variety of yet-to-be-created consumer applications, Illumina said.
Consumer genetics is a growing field in the health sciences industry. In addition to Illumina, Google/Alphabet company, Calico Life Sciences, announced a partnership with Provo, Utah-based AncestryDNA to analyze and investigate genetics and longevity using Ancestry’s proprietary databases, tools and algorithms. Also, Mountain View, Calif.-based 23andMe announced it had inked a deal with Pfizer Inc. , which will give Pfizer access to 23andMe’s research platform, which will include Research Portal analysis of 23andMe’s 800,000 genotyped individuals.
It was not reported if Helix will have space in the new site. Illumina is expected to occupy the entire 360,000 square foot being developed by BioMed Realty Trust.
In addition to its partnership with Illumina, BioMed Realty has also been making major developments in the Boston area. BioMed Realty Trust has been in the process of rebranding the former 340,000 square-foot Vertex Pharmaceuticals facility in Cambridge, Mass. In addition to the Boston area, BioMed Realty, which focuses on life science and biotech properties, works in core U.S. life science markets including San Francisco, San Diego, Maryland, New York/New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Seattle. On its website, BioMed outlines the characteristics of properties biotech companies are looking for, including location near research facilities and universities and “high quality facilities that meet their specialized laboratory and office requirements.”
