(l to r) Dmitriy D. Genkin, Chairman of the Board of Pharmsynthez OJSC; Karl Valente, Lexington Town Manager; Scott Maguire, Xenetic Biosciences CEO; Richard Elam, Executive Director of Massachusetts Office of International Trade & Investment; Susan Windham-Bannister, Ph.D., President & CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center; Jay Kaufman, State Representative; Henry Hoppe, Ph.D., VP of Drug Development for Xenetic.
Lexington, MA – Xenetic Biosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing next-generation biologic drugs and novel oncology therapeutics, recently opened announced the opening of its new corporate headquarters and research and development facility in Lexington, MA. Xenetic, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) and the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio), will host a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony today to celebrate the completion of the Company’s relocation of its global headquarters to Lexington from London, UK.
The relocation decision follows the March 2011 visit to the UK by Governor Deval Patrick and a delegation of state leaders from industry, academia and government to promote mutually beneficial collaborations. The first discussion with Xenetic took place during that trade mission. The company currently has 7 employees in Lexington with plans to grow to 14 by the end of 2014.
Scott Maguire, CEO of Xenetic said, “The opening of Xenetic’s new corporate headquarters in Lexington marks an important new phase in the Company’s 17 year history. Moving our development operations to the Massachusetts biotech corridor is an important step in our transition to becoming an innovative biopharmaceutical company based and publicly listed in the U.S. We believe that we are much more strongly positioned to execute on our mission to develop and commercialize leading next-generation biologic drugs and novel oncology therapeutics.”
Ceremony attendees included local officials and legislators, including MLSC President & CEO Susan Windham-Bannister, Ph.D., MassBio Director of Economic Development & Global Affairs Peter Abair, Massachusetts State Representative Jay Kaufman and Lexington Town Manager Carl Valente.
“Thanks to our growth strategy of investing in education, innovation and infrastructure, Massachusetts continues to lead the world in life sciences,” said Governor Patrick. “We welcome Xenetic to Massachusetts and look forward to their contributions to our thriving life sciences community.
MLSC President & CEO Susan Windham-Bannister, Ph.D. said, “On behalf of the Center, I would like to welcome Xenetic to the Massachusetts life sciences community. Xenetic is focused on developing a pipeline of therapeutics for the treatment of rare diseases and Massachusetts is the perfect home for the Company’s innovative technology. We’ve worked closely with Xenetic on the company’s location decision since our first interaction with the management team during the Governor’s UK trade mission in 2011. I’m confident that they will find the partners and talent they need to thrive right here in Massachusetts. It’s a great outcome of the Governor’s visit to the UK!”
Robert Coughlin, President & CEO of MassBio said, “We are very excited by Xenetic’s decision to relocate to Massachusetts. We look forward to working with Xenetic in the years ahead as the Company continues its growth as a U.S.-listed company.”
“I’m thrilled that Xenetic has chosen Lexington to base their US operations. Lexington continues to grow a strong bio-tech & bio-pharmaceutical cluster, thanks in large part to the aggressive efforts of the Patrick administration. I wish them all the success and look forward to working with them in the future,” stated Representative Jay Kaufman, (D-Lexington).
The company’s new corporate headquarters is located at 99 Hayden Avenue, Suite 230, Lexington, MA 02421.
