72 Doing Business in Connecticut | 2014
sustaining a thriving industry.
"You can't just rely on the redwoods —
large companies and universities — we have
to focus on the smaller trees," CURE President
and CEO Dr. Susan Froshauer said.
e best ecosystem, in Froshauer's opin-
ion, has "startups surrounded by the bigger,
legacy companies, and the universities bring-
ing in new research."
One homegrown biopharmaceutical suc-
cess story is Cheshire-based Alexion Pharma-
ceuticals. e company was founded in 1992 in
New Haven by Dr. Leonard Bell, who was previ-
ously an attending physician at Yale-New Haven
Hospital. Today, the company has 1,600 employ-
ees, 450 of whom are based in Connecticut.
Alexion has developed and commercialized
a drug called Soliris, which treats two very rare
diseases: paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria
(PNH) and atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome
(aHUS). e company reported $1.55 billion
in sales in 2013 and a $252.9 million profit. It
has plans to build a new, $184 million, 12-story,
500,000-square-foot headquarters in New
Haven as part of a redevelopment project in that
city known as Downtown Crossing.
Many in the state's bio-pharma industry
are hoping to follow the path toward profit-
ability achieved by Alexion, including New
Haven-based Arvinas.
Industry sPOtLIGHt
›
Bio-Pharma
Notable bio-pharma
companies in CT
Alexion Pharmaceu cals, Cheshire
Boehringer Ingelheim, Ridgefield
Bristol-Myers Squibb, Wallingford
The Jackson Laboratory,
Farmington
Pfizer, New London
Purdue Pharma, Stamford
Work has been underway on the Jackson Labs Genomic Medicine facility since July 2013. It's expected to be complete in the fall of 2014.
Officials from the state and Jackson Laboratories dig in for the groundbreaking of the Jackson Labs Genomic
Medicine facility in Farmington.
PHOTO/JACKSON
LABS
PHOTO/JACKSON
LABS
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