A United Kingdom-based stem cell company is seriously considering expanding into Massachusetts within the next year in a move to capitalize on the burgeoning life sciences industry here. Peter Mountford, CEO of Stem Cell Sciences Holdings in Edinburgh, Scotland, confirmed in a telephone interview this week that the 10-year-old company has narrowed its options to Massachusetts and two other unnamed states. Mountford plans to choose a site within the next three to six months and wants to launch operations in a year in an expansion that could generate up to 25 laboratory jobs and other high-caliber occupations within two years. A representative from the company met with officials from MassDevelopment, the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council and others at the BIO 2004 life sciences conference in San Francisco earlier this summer to initiate discussions. Mountford said his company has previous intellectual ties to Boston and Cambridge and that the ultimate decision will be based on more than economic incentives.
