Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | February 20, 2023 | wbjournal.com C E N T R A L M A S S I N B R I E F V E R B AT I M Going clinical "If this pans out in studies the way it has demonstrated up until this point in time, it could represent a very interesting way to treat cancer tumors in a safe and efficient way." Robert Bitterman, executive chairman of Phio Pharmaceuticals in Marlborough, about the company's push to move its technology out of discovery and into the clinical phase AI research "This research represents a significant advance towards our objective of identifying patients at greatest risk of suicide and directing effective therapies at those individuals." Jean King, a neuroscientist and the dean of arts and sciences at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, about a study she led using artificial intelligence to better predict suicide risk in women suffering from certain trauma-related disorders $25M acquisition "Bigfoot has made valuable contributions to the industry through many years of research and development in these fields, and we are thrilled to acquire these assets." Eric Benjamin, executive vice president of innovation, strategy, and digital products at Acton medical device manufacturer Insulet, about Insulet's acquisition of diabetes pump technology from California-based Bigfoot Biomedical BY KEVIN KOCZWARA WBJl Staff Writer I n a ribbon-cutting event attended by the top energy official in Pres- ident Joe Biden's administration and both Massachusetts senators, Commonwealth Fusion Systems officially opened its new campus in Devens on Feb. 10. e 50-acre campus will serve as the company's corporate headquarters as well as its advanced manufacturing facility. e Devens facility will house CFS' SPARC system, which is where the company will try to create the world's first commercially viable net energy fu- sion machine, which is under construc- tion. At the Feb. 10 ceremony Com- monwealth Fusion hosted U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), U.S. Senator Edward Markey (D-MA), U.S. Congresswoman Lori Trahan (D-MA), Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll at the company's new facility. "Massachusetts has such a rich histo- ry of being on the forefront," Granholm said at the ceremony, according to a Feb. 10 CFS press release. "You are on the cutting edge of so much. But this Commonwealth Fusion Systems effort, for the world, could be the most momentous of all." Fusion energy has been one of Biden's efforts to move America to a more climate-friendly economy, and Biden has pushed for commercially viable fusion energy within the next 10 years. In December, his administration announced researchers had created the first net-pos- itive fusion reaction, although that is a long way from bringing the technology into everyday use. Commonwealth Fusion spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It became a private company in 2018 and has raised $2 billion from investors, in- cluding Microso Co-founder Bill Gates. e company uses magnetic confinement to create fusion energy. In 2021, CFS and MIT demonstrated CFS could develop commercial fusion energy systems, which is a vital source of renewable energy. e new Devens facility will house its SPARC facility, which is expected to be operational in 2025 and is the model the company hopes will show that building viable fusion power plants is possible. e company wants to start feeding fusion energy into the electric grid in the early 2030s. "From the beginning, CFS' mission has been to leverage proven fusion energy science and the speed of the private sector to support the fastest surest path to clean commercial fusion energy to combat climate change. is campus demonstrates our commitment to and execution of that plan, and will be the place where fusion science becomes fusion energy," CFS CEO Bob Mumgaard said in a press release. e new campus will house a manufac- turing facility to make Commonwealth Fusions' magnets for fusion devices. e company's corporate offices will be based there, and the facility can accommodate any expansion for more research-and-de- velopment facilities. Amid national and political fanfare, $2B fusion energy company opens in Devens PHOTO | COURTESY OF COMMONWEALTH FUSION SYSTEMS W (From left) Commonwealth Fusion Systems CEO Bob Mumgaard shows off the company's new campus to U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Senator Edward Markey.

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