EMD Serono Opens New Research Hub in Boston

By Kevin Davies

March 3, 2011 | Following in the footsteps of Novartis, Merck and other big pharma companies that have decided to headquarter their research operations in the Boston area, EMD Serono recently opened a new research facility in the Boston suburb of Billerica.

Steve Arkinstall, EMD Serono’s senior vice president of global technologies and site head for US-based research operations, says the discovery program will focus in three main areas: oncology, neurodegeneration and fertility research. Particular areas of strength and focus include cancer immunotherapy, blocking activated signaling pathways in tumorigenesis; new drugs for nerve repair in multiple sclerosis and programs in Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease; and new treatments to ease the burden of in vitro fertilization.

Arkinstall, who is British, says the goal is to invest in new technologies that he hopes will it to market in the short term, which in pharma years means the next 10-20 years.

Last month, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick opened EMD Serono’s new laboratory building providing more than 200,000 square feet of space supporting drug discovery research. The building sits on 47 acres, including conservation land, which Arkinstall calls “an amazingly attractive environment.”

“This is a prime area for hiring the best people,” says Arkinstall. “Being successful in research is not just about money and headcount but getting exactly the right person for the job. Being situated in the Boston area provides rich pickings for finding the best-of-the-best talent.”

Two years ago, EMD Serono decided to transfer its neurodegeneration research from Italy to Boston. Why? “It’s about the people,” explains Arkinstall. “Look at the stats. If you look at the leading neuroscience centers in the world, 40% are in the north east of America. Then consider other companies who have had major neuroscience initiatives but are pulling out [of brain research]. Then this was an ideal situation for us to hire a good team.”

Rather than wait for the Billerica site to be completed, in early 2009 EMD Serono opened some research space in the center of Cambridge, Mass., to hire neuroscientists and to get a team up and running. That team is now moving to the Billerica site. Arkinstall says he has the capacity to add another 100 scientists in the long-term, bringing the total up to about 350 people.

Tried and Trusted

EMD Serono’s new research hub spans molecular screening, biology and target identification up to in vivo pharmacology. “We have a state-of-the-art laboratory with scientists with broad technological background and capabilities working, eating and relaxing together. This close interaction is the secret to idea generation and innovation,” says Arkinstall. The new research headquarters will focus on some “tried and trusted” technologies—chemistry based discovery and high-throughput screening; protein engineering, expression and purification; and disease biology.

Arkinstall defends the focus on these technologies as “the bread-and-butter” of drug discovery, but within that framework there are some areas of particular strength and innovation. In cell-based screening, for example, Arkinstall believes that “phenotypic screening is going to be foundational for some of the diseases we work in. In multiple sclerosis, for example, we’re looking for new molecules to help us drive repair of the nervous system. We’re running complex biological screens to find molecules to drive neuron repair. We’re investing in very complex cell-based assays, including a screen with neurons growing with oligodendrocytes, and we can follow the myelination [of neurons] in an HTS format.

Another global strength of EMD Serono’s is protein structure. “We invest quite heavily in drug targets, deriving 3D protein structures and protein modeling, including predictive computer-based modeling,” says Arkinstall. Analyzing the 3D structure of many popular membrane-bound drug targets is very tough. “There’s been very little forward movement, even though these are classic targets,” says Arkinstall. “We see that for all pharma.” EMD Serono is focusing on external collaborations, particularly with the academic sector. “That’s where the groundbreaking work is being done in this area,” says Arkinstall.

“Structurally, we’ve also done a few strategic alliances to do protein-based antibody discovery against transmembrane proteins. That’s also traditionally very difficult. We’ve invested in external partners who have technologies that enable you to express a transmembrane protein outside a regular mammalian cell environment.”

Overall, Arkinstall is optimistic about EMD Serono’s new direction, which he points out has invested in new infrastructure in North America during a difficult economic period. “We’ve got the investment from the company, which has been undaunted to its approach to the U.S.—that was rare,” he says. “In addition, we’ve hired best people in the U.S., skilled, well connected, with great energy.

“If we can’t make it work, we don’t have any excuses.”