SmartLabs to Open Advanced Managed Research Center Next Year

SmartLabs will open a new research, development, office, and related production center in East Cambridge, Mass., late next year. The addition of the most advanced SmartLabs facility to date will equip the company with the world’s largest network of labs and production centers that can support next-generation modalities including cell and gene therapy.
 
The new facility at 100 CambridgeSide, a mixed-use complex owned by a partnership between New England Development and a client advised by UBS Asset Management, will join SmartLabs’ four existing Managed Research Centers in Cambridge and Boston along with three sites in South San Francisco and Philadelphia. Since its debut in 2015, SmartLabs has hosted more than 17% of all venture-funded life science projects in the region; the new East Cambridge site will expand SmartLabs’ Greater Boston footprint by 75%. Since spring 2021, SmartLabs has more than doubled its footprint nationwide as companies have adopted its Laboratory-as-a-Service model as a validated and democratized alternative to traditional approaches to R&D.
 
The new facility will enable programs of all sizes to advance from discovery to clinical trials with a single seamless platform under one roof—a task never before accomplished by an industry infrastructure partner. 100 CambridgeSide also represents the most environmentally and financially responsible way to develop therapies by recycling infrastructure at scale, preventing billions of dollars in construction waste.
 
“To accelerate the translation of initial research into treatments that reach patients, the next generation of clinical manufacturing must be in the heart of where R&D is happening. By colocating labs and bioproduction capabilities in a single facility available on a fractionalized access model, SmartLabs has changed the game for drug development,” SmartLabs Co-Founder/CEO Amrit Chaudhuri said. “We are excited to bring our advanced capabilities to CambridgeSide and to expand our national network.”
 
Over the past year, SmartLabs has announced the launch of two additional research centers; in all, SmartLabs’ network will offer more than 100 clinical production suites, and will host labs outfitted for research, pre-clinical work, clinical trials, and related manufacturing.
 
By colocating R&D and office facilities with related manufacturing, research teams have unprecedented communication and access between research, development, clinical production, and the leading local hospital partners running clinical trials.
 
Traditionally, companies must choose between building internal research and clinical production capabilities or outsourcing to a vendor. Building such a facility can cost over $150 million upfront, in addition to ongoing operating costs. Outsourcing requires less capital upfront, but leaches intellectual property and cedes control over key elements of development. SmartLabs offers development capabilities on a subscription model, reducing costs to $5 million to $10 million for a year of production capacity and allowing clients to maintain control over each step of their process.
 
SmartLabs’ model has already yielded results for clients. Post-Series A clients reach Phase 1 clinical trials approximately 10 months faster than comparable companies.
 
“SmartLabs is a preeminent operator of managed life science environments. We are thrilled that SmartLabs will create its newest Boston area lab/office facility in East Cambridge, at the heart of CambridgeSide,” said Scott Burns, real estate asset manager, UBS Asset Managemen. “The end-to-end research, testing and production capabilities that will be offered at the new facility will provide unparalleled flexibility to pharmaceutical and biotech companies in the area.”
 
“We are pleased to welcome SmartLabs to 100 CambridgeSide,” New England Development President Douglass Karp said. “100 CambridgeSide is part of CambridgeSide’s transformative redevelopment which, upon completion, will feature five interconnected buildings totaling 2 million square feet and includes retail, office/lab, residential and adjacent hotel uses. The development offers unparalleled amenities including shops, restaurants, entertainment, services, indoor parking, and easy access to major roadways.” 
 
SmartLabs is reinventing how therapies and medical devices are developed and brought to market by building advanced labs. SmartLabs enables programs of all sizes and scales to develop from discovery into clinicals trials through one seamless platform. By co-locating R&D facilities with the pilot-scale manufacturing that results from those programs, SmartLabs facilitates communication and access between all players in the biotech R&D and manufacturing space. Members across the biotech hubs of Greater Boston, South San Francisco, and Philadelphia outsource infrastructure and accelerate timelines while controlling their own science, saving two to 24 months in scale-up time and up to 95% in upfront capital expenditures. 
 
For more than 40 years, New England Development has taken a creative, entrepreneurial approach to real estate development and management, delivering and sustaining successful projects across a range of property types. These projects transform complex challenges into preferred locations, generate long-term value to communities, afford compelling opportunities for local and national businesses, and offer sought-after experiences to a wide range of consumers. 
 
UBS Asset Management is a large-scale asset manager with a presence in 23 markets. It offers investment capabilities and investment styles across all major traditional and alternative asset classes to institutions, wholesale intermediaries and wealth management clients around the world. It is a leading fund house in Europe, the largest mutual fund manager in Switzerland, the second largest fund of hedge funds manager and one of the largest real estate investment managers in the world.