Astellas Pharma’s new life sciences center houses its first U.S.-based SakuLab, an incubator space for external partners, as well as its engineered small molecules unit.
Astellas Pharma has opened the Astellas Life Sciences Center, which houses the company’s first U.S.-based SakuLab, an incubator space for external partners, the business announced Thursday. About 400 Astellas employees will work in the Cambridge, Mass., center, which will feature shared R&D resources, flexible workspaces and dedicated areas for cross-functional and partner collaboration.
The new space will accelerate Astellas’ efforts to create an innovation network across the state by connecting leading incubators, ambitious biotechnology start-ups and academia, according to the announcement.
“Our new Astellas Life Sciences Center and open innovation SakuLab will advance our efforts to deliver breakthrough therapies and novel modalities, with a focus on areas of high unmet need,” said Astellas Chief Medical Officer Tadaaki Taniguchi in the announcement. “It will also strengthen our partnerships with local academic institutions and biotech innovators, underpinning our commitment to pursue transformative treatments in oncology, ophthalmology and rare diseases for patients in need.”
In addition to SakuLab, the life sciences center houses the company’s engineered small molecules unit. That group focuses on advancing research into targeted protein degradation, a novel treatment approach designed to remove specific proteins from cells to unlock targets that have been considered “undruggable,” according to the announcement.
The Astellas Life Sciences Center launch is just one of Astellas’ notable milestones this year. In February, the company—through its subsidiary Xyphos Biosciences—entered into a research collaboration and licensing pact with Kelonia Therapeutics to develop novel immune-based therapies for cancer. In May, it entered into a collaboration and license agreement with Poseida Therapeutics to develop novel CAR-T therapies for solid tumors.
The new lab is a bright spot amidst more recent company news, as Astellas’ gene therapy business, Astellas Gene Therapies, is closing its San Francisco biomanufacturing facility. The closure, expected to be complete by March 2025, will affect about 100 employees. All programs and projects will move to Astellas Gene Therapies’ Sanford, North Carolina, location.
