With the additional space, AbbVie will hire 15 new employees.
In 2015, Illinois-based AbbVie sets its eyes on opening a neuroscience research and development facility in Cambridge, Mass. The company secured 43,000 square feet of space in the former Vertex Pharmaceuticals building and was open for business by mid-2016.
Now AbbVie is looking to double the size of its footprint in Cambridge.
This morning, the Boston Business Journal reported that AbbVie will add an additional 42,000 square feet of laboratory space in the former Vertex building. After Vertex left the site for another location in Boston, BioMed Realty redeveloped the property.
A company spokesperson told the Journal that the space will be used to support research efforts in immunology. With the additional space, AbbVie will hire 15 new employees. Eventually, the expanded immunology space will have about 50 employees, which is roughly the same number of employees at AbbVie’s Foundational Neuroscience Center.
AbbVie does have an immunology research facility in nearby Worcester, Mass. It is unknown if some of those employees will be transferred to the new Cambridge facility when it is operational.
The AbbVie spokesperson told the Journal that co-locating the immunology research group with the team from the Foundational Neuroscience Center will allow the company to “harness new insights in immunology to identify potential new approaches for autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases.”
Space in the former Vertex building became available after several tenants left for larger facilities, the Journal reported. Seres Therapeutics and CRISPR Therapeutics remain tenants at the former Vertex site, the Journal added.
News of the expanded space comes only a few days after AbbVie posted a positive 2018 guidance. In a revised statement, AbbVie said it only expects to pay a tax rate of 9 percent this year, well below the new corporate rate of 20 percent, which could free up money for possible mergers and acquisitions as well as additional capital projects. AbbVie said it will invest about $2.5 billion in capital projects, but it’s the possible M&A activity that has piqued the interest of many analysts. When BioSpace first reported this story last month, analysts suggested that AbbVie would look to make a move in neuroscience, early stage immuno-oncology or solid tumor research.
Motley Fool analyst Keith Speights suggested that 2018 will be pivotal for AbbVie as new drug launches will ease the dependence on its blockbuster Humira. Although the rheumatoid arthritis drug is still expected to be a strong revenue driver, Speights said AbbVie will see strong support from Imbruvica. The company could also see boosts from recently approved hepatitis C drug Mavyret. Speights suggested the drug will hit blockbuster status this year. Mavyret is a drug that will treat all types of HCV in an eight-week timeframe – four weeks shorter than other leading HCV drugs.
