California pharma eyeing WBDC biomanufacturing site

Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito announces the Worcester Business Development Corporation as the site's developer in September.

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By Laura Finaldi

The city of Worcester's Economic Development Coordinating Council is in talks with a California company to make it the first resident of a biomanufacturing site on the former site of the Worcester State Hospital.

Kevin O'Sullivan, president and CEO of Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives, said Monday the council is in talks with LakePharma Inc. of Belmont, Calif., to build a 50,000-square-foot research and manufacturing facility on the 44 acres of state land currently being redeveloped by the Worcester Business Development Corp.

LakePharma acquired Worcester-based Blue Sky BioServices in March, and is looking to expand its presence on the East Coast, O'Sullivan said. He said this could be a turning point to help spur biomanufacturing in Massachusetts.

"We’re discovering molecules everyday in Massachusetts, but they're not being manufactured here," he said. "We feel with this great market here."

The news that LakePharma was looking to expand in Worcester was originally reported by the Telegram & Gazette, which accessed WBDC's bid for the former hospital site through a public records request. Craig Blais, president and CEO of WBDC, told the Telegram that his agency has a six-month agreement with LakePharma to find an expansion in the Worcester area.

LakePharma did not return a phone call seeking comment.

The redevelopment of the former hospital campus by the WBDC was announced last month by Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito. The proposed 500,000-square-feet of biotechnology facility space is expected to attract companies moving from research to commercialization in biomanufacturing, according to the Baker-Polito Administration. The site has the potential to create more than 500 jobs.