Woburn, MA Minerva Biotechnologies has signed a lease for a 13,000 s/f lab and office suite and will expand from Waltham to a newly renovated lab facility at Cummings Park. The clinical-stage company is developing revolutionary therapeutics to treat and prevent cancers.
From its new location, Minerva aims to launch a platform that it believes has the potential to transform cancer treatment and reshape regenerative medicine.
“The move to Woburn marks the beginning of what we believe will be a defining chapter, not just for Minerva Biotechnologies, but for the entire biotech narrative in Massachusetts and beyond,” said Cynthia Bamdad, Ph.D., the company’s founder, CEO and CSO.
Bamdad founded Minerva 25 years ago to find a cure for cancers, rather than just an incremental improvement to current treatments. The company’s therapeutics are based on Bamdad’s original discovery that the earliest embryonic stem cells and most aggressive cancers both grow by the same mechanism of action.
This groundbreaking insight has opened the door to a new class of medicines – ones that don’t merely suppress tumor growth, but dismantle the core survival system that allows cancer to resist treatment and endlessly recur.
Cummings’ senior leasing director Rob Yacobian worked directly with the Minerva leadership team on the lease. The company is joining a large roster of established and early-stage life sciences companies in the Cummings portfolio.
Minerva’s research suggests that targeting MUC1*, a molecule essential for both early development of embryonic stem cells and cancer growth (aberrantly expressed on the surface of 75% of solid tumors), can be a promising strategy for developing cancer therapies.
Minerva has completed the first successful human trial of a CAR T cell treatment for solid tumor cancers, and has incorporated its cancer-specific antibody into an antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) format.
Minerva’s chief operating officer Ron Axelrod noted that in addition to the appeal of Woburn as an established life sciences cluster, Cummings’ ability to lease the space, design and construct modifications, and enable move-in within 30 days was a key factor in Minerva’s leasing decision.
“The existing lab infrastructure, paired with the expertise and sense of urgency of Cummings’ leasing and design team, made the leasing decision an easy one for our team,” said Axelrod.
Yacobian said, “We are excited to have Minerva join the Cummings portfolio and look forward to watching the team grow as it continues its scientific advancements. With 11 million square feet of commercial real estate, and ample lab space, we are ready to accommodate expansion needs when they arise.”
Neighboring firms in Cummings Properties’ Woburn biotech cluster include Agrivida, Azurity Pharma, Continuus Pharmaceuticals, Hopewell Therapeutics, Rgenta, Spear Bio, Vaxess, and dozens of other biotech, life sciences, and medical device companies.
Cummings Properties’ 11 million square feet of commercial real estate accommodates labs and clean rooms, offices, healthcare facilities, restaurants, retail storefronts, warehouses, executive suites, and more. With a portfolio of this size and variety, the firm can meet virtually any commercial real estate need. Its in-house experts in design, construction, and property management offer “one-stop shopping” for the business community. More information is available at www.cummings.com.
