The new 154,000-square-foot building at 480 Forbes Boulevard will become the Tokyo-headquartered company’s US West Coast innovation and research center, complementing its East Coast hub in Massachusetts. It will also allow it to co-locate several Astellas business units and functions currently located independently throughout the San Francisco area.
The new center is expected to become operational in 2023. It will employ people across research, technical operations, medical and development, commercial, and relevant administrative support functions. The facility will include lab and co-working spaces to accommodate future growth as it advances a range of cell and gene therapies for patients with limited or no treatment options, including rare diseases and cancer.
“By uniting our business units in the Bay Area, we are creating a dedicated West Coast center in the vibrant South San Francisco corridor alongside other leaders in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry,” said Yoshitsugu Shitaka, Ph.D., chief scientific officer at Astellas.
“Similar to the Astellas Biomedical Innovation Hub located in the greater Boston area, this new facility will foster even greater levels of collaboration amongst our world-class, multi-disciplinary teams working in cell and gene therapies, development of business opportunities and all those who support our endeavors to create value for patients.”
Astellas will be the sole occupant of the new building and will spend the next year equipping it with research labs, office spaces, and other amenities specifically designed to accommodate the West Coast employees of Astellas Gene Therapies, including those of affiliate Xyphos Biosciences, its Rx+ Business Accelerator, and the planned future growth within those units.
In addition, co-locating these businesses will allow the company to make more efficient use of space by combining the lab and office facilities into one new building, compared to current independent locations.
