March 24, 2015
By Riley McDermid, BioSpace.com Breaking News Sr. Editor
British diagnostic test maker Population Genetics Technologies will open a site in Cleveland, Ohio that plans to hire around 30 new employees by 2018, the company told BioSpace Tuesday, as biotech doubles down on the perks the city has been doling out to encourage high-tech new occupants.
“They are aiming for about 20 to 30 new jobs over the next two to three years,” Jennifer Bahun, a spokesperson for the company, told BioSpace. “Substantial growth in employee numbers at the facility is planned to underpin product commercialization.”
The new site will be located at the Baker Electric Building in the heart of Cleveland’s health-tech corridor. PGT said it expects the new office to be the headquarters for its U.S. operations, where it will be used to support the development and commercialization of the firm’s portfolio of advanced diagnostic and testing kits for infectious diseases.
The Cambridge, England-based company said it had already reached out to local universities and other sources for highly trained, expert employees as it continues a push into the Midwest.
“PGT US is already working closely with experts at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio” said Alan Schafer, chief executive officer of PGT. “The establishment of our US office in Cleveland will firmly establish our presence in the United States, and enable our company to implement and commercialize our products there, supported by technology and assay development activities at our research center in Cambridge UK”.
The company will need those workers to help it run its proprietary Next Generation Sequencing, which enables sensitive detection of mutations. PGT said that standard sequencing tests for HIV drug resistance only detect a mutation that is present in at least 20 percent of viruses—while NGS alone can detect resistance mutations down to the 1 to 5 percent level.
To find the right talent pool, the British company teamed up with BioEnterprise, a business formation, recruitment and acceleration effort designed to support the growth of bioscience companies in Cleveland.
“I am delighted to welcome Population Genetics Technologies Inc. to Cleveland. Cleveland is home to a number of world-class clinical and academic institutions, and a deep pool of experienced biomedical talent,” said Aram Nerpouni, president and chief executive of BioEnterprise. “The choice of Cleveland for the company’s first U.S. office is a clear recognition of our reputation as a hub of healthcare operations. We look forward to working closely with the company to help it achieve its scientific and business goals.”
BioEnterprise provides management counsel and support services to healthcare companies. So far the initiative has created, recruited, and accelerated more than 170 companies in 12 years via collective activities of BioEnterprise and its partners’: the Case Office of Technology Transfer, Cleveland Clinic Innovations, University Hospitals Case Medical Center--Center for Clinical Research and Summa Enterprise Group.
BioSpace Temperature Poll
U.K.-based GlaxoSmithKline filed a WARN letter in late February with the state of Pennsylvania indicating another 150 people would be laid off in its commercial and research and development group near Philadelphia. BioSpace wants to know if you think Pharm Country will do what it takes to keep biotech jobs in the area?
