Framingham Sewer Project In Full Flow
It may be a time of state budget cuts and stalled private development, but in Framingham both the public and private sectors are moving forward on a major biomanufacturing project.
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center recently announced that it is providing $7.7 million to help the town fund an expansion of the sewer system that is intended primarily to support the new biomanufacturing facility that Genzyme Corp. is building. The money is the second and final installment in the project from the MLSC, bringing the total it's paid toward the wastewater system to $12.9 million.
Center spokesman Angus G. McQuilken said continuing the funding for the project was a no-brainer, even given state budget constraints. That's because the plant is projected to create 300 permanent jobs, along with about 165 temporary construction jobs between the sewer system project and the Genzyme construction.
"That's a very immediate and short-term return on investment in terms of jobs that will be available to people in that region," McQuilken said.
Already, Genzyme said it's hired more than 100 people to help start up the biomanufacturing plant. The facility will produce the drugs Cerezyme and Fabrazyme, which are treatments for diseases resulting from deficiencies of certain enzymes.
In a recent financial filing, Genzyme said it expects the plant to be "mechanically complete," meaning that bioreactors and other equipment are ready to go, by the end of 2009. The company will then be able to move forward with test runs of the drugs, which are needed to get FDA approval for actual manufacturing to begin. Genzyme said it expects FDA approval for Fabrazyme in 2011 and for Cerezyme in 2012.
Genzyme produced Cerezyme and Fabrazyme at an Allston plant that was shut down earlier this year after inspectors found a virus there. The company said that its third quarter earnings tumbled from $119.6 million a year ago to $16 million as a result of the temporary shut-down of the Allston plant.
The Cambridge-based biotech company already has 14 buildings and 1 million square feet of space in Framingham.
Besides supporting the new facility, McQuilken said the wastewater system expansion should benefit the town's residents, as well as any other companies that set up shop at the Framingham Technology Park.
The first phase of the wastewater project was funded with the MLSC's first major grant, given in October 2008. That phase, which included the replacement of a wastewater pump station, is scheduled to wrap up next month.
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