Worcester Business Journal

www.wbjournal.com July 18, 2016 • Worcester Business Journal 13 >> L I F E S C I E N C E S 2016 Giving Guide RESERVE YOUR SPACE TODAY! ISSUE DATE: September 5, 2016 SPACE RESERVATION DEADLINE: August 11, 2016 is informative publication will highlight the various nonprofit organizations that have a presence in Central Massachusetts and are making a difference in our community. Non-profits play a huge role in the region and this publication will showcase their mission, goals, governance and many initiatives they have underway. The Giving Guide will include nonprofits in the Arts & Humanities, Health & Human Services, Foundations and Fundraising and will be seen by 30,000+ c-level executive readers of the Worcester Business Journal. A GREAT TARGET MARKET FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION! Contact Mark Murray, Associate Publisher for more information at 508.755.8004 ext. 227 or mmurray@wbjournal.com COMING THIS FALL! Worcester Business Journal's Central Massachusetts' Source for Business News Sponsored by tion allowed GE to expand its line of single-use products and to develop the eventual FlexFactory model, according to the company. GE also has a manufac- turing facility in Westborough that pro- duces single-use products and consum- ables for biopharmaceutical manufac- turing. The Marlborough building has 40,000 square feet of lab space, support- ing research and development for cell and immune therapies, early stage drug development, biomanufacturing and scientific and medical affairs support. A FlexFactory – GE's ninth – will be in place by next fall. So far, 250 local employees have been hired, with an additional 30 making the move to Massachusetts from New Jersey. The Marlborough facility will be at capacity with 500 employees, accord- ing to GE. By the end of this year, GE will have almost 5,000 employees in the Bay State, including those at the corpo- rate office in Boston. The impact of GE's move on the life sciences sector in Massachusetts will be huge, said Robert K. Coughlin, presi- dent and CEO of the trade group Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. "They're a partner to the life sciences companies that we have here. It makes perfect sense for them to be here so that they can grow their business, but it's also equally as beneficial for biopharma companies here to have GE as a part- ner," Coughlin said. Phil Vanek, the general manager of cell therapy technologies at GE Healthcare, said the move benefitted GE as well from an intellectual resourc- es standpoint. "You have an educational environ- ment up there that is second to none. The density and caliber of talent avail- able to us is top notch," Vanek said. Precision medicine Precision medicine has received a lot of attention over the past year. President Barack Obama put a national spotlight on it when he announced a federal research initiative for it in his 2015 State of the Union address. Cures for some of the world's most dangerous diseases are widely considered to exist under the precision umbrella. The next wave of precision medicine is cell therapy, according to GE. Unlike biologics, which produce batches for thousands of patients, cell therapy is n $27 million investment from GE n Will employ 500 at full capacity n 210,000 square feet (40,000 of lab space) n Fully operational by late 2017 GE in Marlborough Source: GE Here are the details on the new GE Healthcare Life Sciences building. even more personalized – one batch treats a single patient. Such therapies are not yet widely available but have shown success in early clinical trials. Cell therapies are a small part of the $4-billion GE Healthcare Life Sciences, but that is expected to grow tenfold over the next 10 years, Vanek said. That will be done through strategic acquisitions and partnerships with companies that can help contribute to the workflow, he said, as well as in-house research and development and other investments, and by partnering with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies and clinical researchers. "We have to invent new technologies. We have to rethink what a customer's workflow would look like today, but more importantly what a customer's workflow would be like that in the future," Vanek said. There is a lot of crossover between the technologies used for biologics and cell therapies, which will allow for a more seamless transition. "From a technology perspective, there's a lot of similarities," Vanek said. "Therefore, we can process heavily from where GE has been over the years." Cell therapy could also eventually make its way into FlexFactory concept and KUBio bioprocessing environments, he said. It would just be a matter of a request from the right customer. After a tour of the facility, Gov. Charlie Baker said the repercussions of GE's work in the cell therapy sphere could resonate far beyond Massachusetts. "This whole notion of trying to figure out a process to unmask the tumors that can ultimately be used to help people's own antibodies fight back against cancer is a really big idea, and would change in very significant ways the way we think about cancer," Baker said. n The facility on Results Way in Marlborough will include a FlexFactory by fall of 2017. GE invested $27 million in the building. P H O T O / M A T T W R I G H T

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