O'Sullivan: Worcester is on the biotech map
Kevin O'Sullivan, MBI president and CEO
WuXi Biologics, a Chinese biomanufacturer, has signed an agreement with the city and state to build a $60-million biomanufacturing facility at the Worcester Biomanufacturing Park on the site of the former Worcester State Hospital. The company will be the first tenant at the park. In an interview with WBJ, Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives President and CEO Kevin O'Sullivan said Worcester has arrived as a biotech destination.
The Greater Boston area is internationally recognized as a life-science hub. Is Worcester seen as such?
It’s no longer just Cambridge and Boston. The biomedical corridor that has emerged over the last decades is between the state’s two largest cities. We look at it really as a statewide approach. Cambridge certainly is the Mecca, but outside of Boston and Cambridge, there’s this great migration -- I’m calling it the westward pull.
Does the $60M WuXi Biologics facility now put Worcester on the biotech map?
We already were. Look at the development of the UMass Medicine Science Park over the last 25 years. Very shortly, two more leases will be signed to bring the park to 100-percent capacity. Worcester has really shot up over the years of being recognized for its colleges, universities and the medical school. We have made a very clear intention to head toward biomanufacturing. We believe biomanufacturing is the way of the future.
What went into convincing WuXi to open in Worcester?
WuXi was looking at Worcester for over a year. Landing them was a major mark not just for Worcester but establishing the biomanufacturing park as a leader in the industry.
We’ve worked hard at this for about three to four years. We’ve been a leading advocate for it. WuXi coming was not by mistake, but it was because we’ve worked hard on this.
The company’s announcement came on the heels of the BIO Convention. Did it play a role in the company’s decision?
It didn’t happen at the BIO Convention. We met with WuXi well over a year ago. They came and toured and spent a day in Worcester. We had lunch and made a presentation. Quite frankly, we knew they were looking for a North American place to build it.
They came to realize that Massachusetts was the place to be. They realized Worcester was the place because of the proximity to Boston, the fact that we’re ready to build and have a real cooperative spirit here with help from the state. We basically won them over.
Was LakePharma’s decision to not open in the park a setback?
They ended up in Hopkinton, so that was still a win for Massachusetts and Central Mass.
We’re always looking at companies and working with the state, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the city’s economic development office and the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce.
So, are there other big moves coming down the pike?
We’re talking to companies all the time, but you can’t go to bat with them until you get them to sign. Obviously, I’m can’t talk about them yet, but some are in preliminary now.
To have a company come in and bring 150 to 200 jobs right off the bat sends the signal that we’re open for business.
This interview was conducted and edited for length and clarity by WBJ Staff Writer Zachary Comeau.
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