Incentives Accelerate Growth At Framingham Firm
There are two types of cholesterol: the good kind and the bad kind.
Many doctors focus on the bad kind to determine a patient's risk of having heart disease and prescribing treatment options.
But Boston Heart Lab, a two-year-old biotech startup based in Framingham, has developed an innovative set of testing indicators focusing on the good cholesterol that allows doctors to, they say, better assess a patient's risk of heart disease and have more targeted treatment options.
The company already has 48 employees and plans to add about 36 more in the next year alone.
And CEO Susan Hertzberg said thanks to a $440,000 tax incentive the company received this month from the state's Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, now those hiring plans have been accelerated.
State Support
Boston Heart Lab was one of 30 companies in Massachusetts, and one of six in the MetroWest region to receive a 2011 tax break from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the commonwealth's 10-year, $1 billion commitment to supporting the state's biotech industry.
Drs. Ernst Schaefer and Bela Asztalos, who are associated with the Tufts Medical School in Boston, founded Boston Heart Lab in 2008 after studying the so-called good cholesterol, HDL.
Boston Heart Labs sells comprehensive testing programs to individual doctors, cardiologists and physician groups in the Northeast and Southeast. Doctors send blood samples to Boston Heart Labs' Framingham office, where they are examined and studied by the company's team of scientists. Doctors and their patients are then sent an in-depth analysis of the patient's blood, the risks associated with heart disease and advice on the best course of treatment.
The company has also gained some notable investors recently. While Schaefer and Asztalos started the company with the support of angel investors and other private capital, in July the company received a $10 million infusion from Boston-based Bain Capital Ventures. It's at that time that the company also hired Hertzberg, who is the former CEO of Ipsogen Inc.
Despite the company only being two years old, Hertzberg said she hopes to almost double the staff in the next 12 months, which will be aided by the Life Sciences Center's incentive program.
Getting the tax incentive is about more than just money, however. Being recognized by the center solidifies the company's reputation and, Hertzberg hopes, will help the company attract top talent for its new hires.
Boston Heart Labs isn't alone in celebrating a break on 2011 taxes thanks to the Life Sciences Center.
Still River Systems Inc. in Littleton is another company to have received a tax credit this month worth about $296,000. The company has plans to hire 11 new workers in the New Year.
The company makes proton therapy systems for cancer treatments and has already added 21 jobs in 2010, bringing its total employee count to 90. Additional staff is needed in engineering, regulatory, quality assurance and manufacturing to support the continued development of the company's proton therapy devices, according to Melanie Miller, the company's marketing and events coordinator.
Other MetroWest-based companies receiving tax incentives:
• Caliper Life Sciences Inc., Hopkinton, $270,000 tax incentive, 11 jobs
• Interlace Medical Inc., Framingham, $75,000 tax incentive, 10 jobs
• Sunovion Inc., Marlborough, $942,734 tax incentive, 35 jobs
• Valeritas Inc., Shrewsbury, $480,000 tax incentive, 18 jobs
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments