Health

16 HEALTH • Spring 2017 Post-acquisition, growing Marlborough firm explores vision cures and more \\ By Livia Gershon A FRESH LOOK C hief Science Officer Dr. Robert Lanza has been with Astellas Institute for Regenerative Medicine (AIRM) since 1999, when the Marlborough biotech- nology company—then known as Advanced Cell Technologies Inc. (ACT)— was just five years old. Since then, he's seen the stock price rise and fall, and CEOs come and go. But since its acquisition by the Japanese company Astellas Pharma Inc. just over a year ago, Lanza said he's been feeling more optimistic than he has in a long time about the prospects for developing new therapies, including methods for restoring vision for some people who have lost their sight. He's even thinking bigger than he used to: about how to help build projects that could take down some of the world's biggest threats to human health. Today, Lanza also serves as head of Global Regenerative Medicine for Astellas, a pharmaceutical giant with 17,000 employees in locations around the world. The parent company offers AIRM support it's never had before, Lanza said. "We can take advantage of all their wealth of knowledge for development and clinical trials," he said. "They've given us all the resources that we've needed—equipment that only a few people in the world have." A growing workforce And so, for the past year, AIRM has been on a hiring binge, doubling its employee count to more than 70 and bringing in leading researchers from all over the world who specialize in the company's various focus areas. For years, the company now known as AIRM has been at the forefront of developing therapies based on the sometimes controversial use of embry- onic stem cells. In 2006, ACT devel- oped a method for using those cells without destroying embryos, helping to reduce political pushback over the issue. But, as is often the case with biotech companies taking on ambitious proj- ects, progress was slow and uneven at times. Some investors complained that ACT overpromised in terms of both its research and its business relation- ships. For some time, it was selling as a penny stock. In early 2014, it got in trouble with the Securities and Exchange Commission for report- edly selling unregistered stock, and one of its CEOs had to leave the company after failing to report stock sales. Later that year, it renamed itself Ocata. Kevin O'Sullivan, president and CEO of Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives in Worcester, said Astellas' decision to acquire Ocata for $379 million speaks to the underlying value of the company's research. "I was a bit surprised," he said. "I said to myself, obvi- ously this science is something that his Japanese company sees merit in." In particular, O'Sullivan said Astellas seemed to be investing in Lanza's work and ideas. "I still have faith in Rob as a scientist," he said. "He's been able to kind of hang in there for a long period of time." A fresh start Since AIRM became part of Astellas, Lanza said, he's felt more able to get things done. "The culture, the people, are so pleasant," he said. "Just before the takeover, with the last couple administrations, it wasn't quite that way." Having the backing of a deep-pocketed pharma- ceutical company means there's little pressure to deliver a quick return on investment. "This is what's so great about it, is they've iden- "We can take advantage of ... their wealth of knowledge for development and clinical trials." Dr. Robert Lanza, chief science officer, AIRM Kevin O'Sullivan AIRM has been on a hiring binge, doubling its employee count to more than 70 and bringing in leading researchers from all over the world. P H O T O / D R E A M S T I M E . C O M

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