A European biotech company with a significant Houston presence is adding to its local footprint with a laboratory expansion.
Switzerland-based contract development and manufacturing organization Lonza Group Ltd. announced the completion of 15,000 square feet of laboratory space on Feb. 2. Behnam Ahmadian Baghbaderani, Lonza’s head of process development for cell and gene therapy, said the space would allow Lonza to host more customers looking to manufacture cell and gene therapy as well as to expand offerings to new treatments involving exosomes, which could allow human bodies to regenerate.
Lonza confirmed the labs were already operational and partner clients had been secured, though it could not disclose the names of any specific companies due to confidentiality agreements. Baghbaderani said the expansion was a continuing commitment to Pearland, where the company opened a 300,000-square-foot building at 14905 Kirby Drive in 2018.
“The city of Pearland, the Greater Houston Partnership and others have helped connect us with the local businesses, academia and other nonprofit organizations, whether it was to hire local talent or connect with local suppliers,” Baghbaderani said.
He also cited the area’s growing life sciences workforce and talent pipeline as factors for the company to remain in Houston.
“We believe that there are a lot more opportunities to bring talents, and also cutting-edge sciences, which will require talented people and [will provide] new opportunities for the local organizations, schools and academia, to receive training,” Baghbaderani said. “But then [those receiving training] will have the opportunity to work with a large [contract development and manufacturing organization] such as Lonza. So Lonza looks for the community to find the right resources and talents.”
Changing trends in commercializing cell and gene therapy led to Lonza maintaining and expanding its Houston presence, Baghbaderani said. He highlighted a shift in funding from public to private sources for biotech companies looking to scale their technologies at a commercial level.
“The Houston area is emerging as a rapidly growing [area] for life science in the U.S. and is commonly viewed as a third coast,” Baghbaderani said. “The success of cell and gene therapy programs, in the sense of moving from clinical to commercial, is going to be a key factor.”
Recent developments in life sciences infrastructure in Houston include the Texas Medical Center’s recently announced 500-acre BioPort campus, which will focus on cell and gene therapy as well as pharmaceutical manufacturing. Additionally, the TMC’s Helix Park, which is set to open its first phase in late 2023, is already searching for tenants for its research buildings.
Elsewhere, San Jacinto College will open a biotechnology training center at its campus in Generation Park, a master-planned commercial district in northeast Houston. In December, the college announced it signed a memorandum of understanding with Ireland's National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training to provide training programs.
In November, Houston-based Hines announced Sino Biological Inc. as the first tenant for its 53-acre Levit Green campus. The campus's first phase — a five-story, 294,000-square-foot laboratory and office building — will include a 7,000-square-foot conference center, a 5,800-square-foot fitness center, a 3,500-square-foot café and restaurant space, a dedicated incubator space, tenant terraces and activated outdoor seating areas. Sino has leased about 10,000 square feet of commercial lab and office space and is expected to move in during the third quarter of 2023.
