French Drugmaker Ipsen Starts Operation In Cambridge, MA
The French pharmaceutical company Ipsen joins the growing number of pharmaceutical companies that has planted roots in Cambridge, Massachusetts with the launch of Ipsen Bioscience.
Ipsen, which specializes in developing drugs for cancers and neuromuscular disorders, opened the research and development center in Kendall Square next to the headquarters of Sanofi’s Genzyme. The R&D site will house an estimated 60 research and clinical employees, many of whom come from a smaller affiliate that was recently sold to Baxter.
The company did not keep it a secret that it was eyeing the U.S. as its next potential big market, after entrenching its hold in France, Russia, and China. Ipsen’s U.S. market currently accounts for less than 5 percent of its global annual sales reaching up to $1.6 billion. Ipsen CEO Marc de Garidel told the Boston Globe during a visit to the new research center, “Not being in the U.S. is a big handicap. The U.S. is the center of innovation in science. This is where most of the new discoveries are taking place. And you can’t ignore the fact that the U.S. is 34 percent of the world market [for prescription drugs].”
Plans to relocate from Milford to leading biotech hub Cambridge were revealed by the company in September last year. The announcement came shortly after the company acquired U.K. biotech Syntaxin, a firm specializing on toxin research. Ipsen signed an eleven year lease on the property, which spans 62,600 square feet of laboratory rental space and office space within the 282,000 square foot building at 650 East Kendall Street. The company joins the ranks of other European pharmaceutical firms in the area including Swiss Novartis, Irish firm Shire, and English pharma company AstraZeneca.
“We are very excited about expanding our research and development efforts to Cambridge... This move puts our research capabilities in the center of Kendall Square, one of the preeminent life science communities in the world, including prominent hospital centers, medical schools, biotech companies and universities,” said Cynthia Sylvestre, President of Biomeasure, VP and Head of the company’s Milford site.
The company said it anticipates the site to be fully operational by the end of the year.