May 11, 2017
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
MENLO PARK, Calif. – Gene sequencing company Pacific Biosciences of California is taking over a huge space in a newly revamped building in Menlo Park Labs. The company signed a 10-year lease for a 180,000-square-foot building that includes offices and R&D space.
The San Jose Business Journal said the site was formerly an Office Max distribution center. The space was refurbished for use by the life science and biotech industries. Pacific BioSciences worked closely with the developers revamping the building, Ben Gong, Pacific BioSciences’ vice president of finance and treasurer, told the Journal in a statement. Gong said the developers, Tarlton Properties, made sure the refurbished building met the needs of Pacific Biosciences.
Information on the cost of the new building was unavailable, but a press release issued by Tarleton described the project as “massive.” The new building includes office space, research laboratories, manufacturing space, conference center and other amenities.
Pacific Biosciences began with 10,000 square feet of space and has slowly grown to take over more space, Tarlton said in a statement.
Pacific BioSciences developed the sequencing technology known as SMRT– Single Molecule, Real-Time (SMRT). The company said its technology offers the most comprehensive view of genomes, transcriptomes, and epigenomes—including the full spectrum of genetic variation—by providing the longest average read lengths, highest consensus accuracy, and most uniform coverage of any sequencing technology on the market today.”
Earlier this year at the International Plant and Animal Genome (PAG) conference in San Diego Pacific Biosciences told BioSpace that the SMRT technology provides the longest reads, highest accuracy and little bias in its sequencing. The sequencing machines are used to characterize genes that influence how patients metabolize drugs—findings that could take the trial and error out of dosing, Jonas Korlach, PacBio’s chief scientific officer told BioSpace.
The company has seen an increase in interest in its technology, reporting sales of units to Novogene and China’s GrandOmics Biosciences.
In April, the Pacific Biosciences reported that revenue for the first quarter of the year spiked 60 percent to $24.9 million, up from $19.1 million during the same period in 2016.
Last year, there were rumors floating that Pacific Biosciences was a possible acquisition target for the likes of pharma giants Roche and GlaxoSmithKline . Roche did have a partnership agreement with Pacific Biosciences to develop and market diagnostic products that used the company’s advanced gene technology. However, in December 2016 Roche walked away from the partnership.
Shares of Pacific Biosciences have been on a wild ride over the past week. Since May 5 share prices have risen and fell multiple times from $3.87 per share to $3.99 per share over and over again. Share prices are currently trading at $3.91 as of 10 a.m.
Pacific Biosciences is not the only biotech company in the Menlo Park Labs space. There are approximately 60 companies in the area, including Refuge Biotechnologies and AccuraGen, Tarleton said in its statement.
