October 9, 2017
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
BOSTON – Two life science companies have inked deals for space in the Boston Landing development.
Roche Diagnostics Operations, Inc. and Cambridge, Mass.-based Proteostasis Therapeutics have secured about 29,000 square feet of space in the massive 15-acre development that also includes tenants such as New Balance Athletics, the Boston Bruins and the Boston Celtics. The two companies are the first life science business to take residence in the new complex, the Boston Real Estate Times reported.
Both Roche and Proteostasis intend to set up shop in the Boston Landing development in the first half of 2018, Wicked Local reported. How many employees the company intends to field at the development was not reported by either publication.
It was not disclosed how Roche would use the facilities at the Boston Landing complex to advance the company’s drug development programs or if the new space would allow the company to hire new employees. In June, the pharmaceutical giant Roche began tweaking its operational strategy by culling some positions and shutting down manufacturing operations at a Massachusetts facility that was part of its small molecule network.
In May, Roche Diagnostics, which is the division taking over the space in Boston Landing, launched its next generation INR patient self-monitoring meter for patients on warfarin anticoagulant therapy. The new CoaguChek INRange meter allows patients to send their results to their clinic via an App on their phone using wireless connectivity, Roche said.
According to a form 8-K filed by Proteostasis with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company will use the Boston Landing development for its principal executive offices. Proteostasis will pay rent of about $1.7 million for the first year. Its lease will increase in price by 2.75 percent annually. The company currently leases offices in Cambridge, but that lease is set to expire by May 31, 2018.
At the end of July, Proteostasis announced it finished the dosing of 19 patients taking part in an ongoing Phase I/II study designed to evaluate the safety and pharmacokinetics of PTI-428, the company’s CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) amplifier. Proteostasis’ drug compound is being studied in combination with Vertex Pharmaceuticals ’ cystic fibrosis drug Orkambi. CFTR amplifiers represent a new drug class able to enhance the effect of known cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) modulating agents, such as potentiators and correctors. The amplifiers are effective across CFTR mutation classes and form the basis for Proteostasis’ strategy to develop a broad acting combination therapy able to serve CF patients with most mutations, the company said.
Proteostasis has collaborative deals with Biogen and Astellas, Inc. (ALPMY) to develop compounds that modulate the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) through the use of Proteostasis’ proprietary “Disease Relevant Translation” and “Proteostasis Network” platform.
