Neurotech Pharmaceuticals Announces Rhode Island Expansion Plan
January 16, 2008 | Print this page | Share This |
Neurotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the development of sight-saving therapeutics for chronic eye diseases, announced today that it will locate a new manufacturing facility in Rhode Island.
With support from the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation (RIEDC) and its financing programs, Rhode Island Industrial Facilities Corporation (RIIFC) and Rhode Island Industrial-Recreational Building Authority (IRBA), Neurotech was approved for a $4 million financing deal that will enable the company to purchase new equipment, including two modular manufacturing suites (clean rooms), and expand into a new 27,000 square foot office and manufacturing site at the Highland Corporate Park in Cumberland, RI. The manufacturing facility is anticipated to be in operation by Q2 2008.
In September 2006 Neurotech raised $35 million in a Series B financing. Currently, the company’s main operation is located in Lincoln, RI and employs 21 professionals. In the next three years, the company anticipates it will increase its employee base substantially at its Rhode Island operations.
“We are thrilled to expand our operations in Rhode Island. The State of Rhode Island’s leadership and our partners at the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation have been very helpful in enabling us to initiate our expansion efforts,” stated Ted Danse, President and CEO, Neurotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc. “We look forward in working with the State to continue our growth and development, and to further strengthen our R&D and manufacturing capacity in Rhode Island.”
“Supporting promising biotechnology companies like Neurotech is a winning strategy for Rhode Island and important to our effort to grow an innovation economy that produces good, higher wage jobs for our citizens,” said Saul Kaplan, executive director, Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation. “Neurotech is an excellent example of how the public and private sectors can work together to help great companies grow. We are proud of Neurotech’s success and look forward to their continued growth in Rhode Island.”
Neurotech has developed an Encapsulated Cell Technology (ECT) implant specifically designed for intraocular placement. ECT allows for the continuous local production and release of therapeutic molecules from living cells, thus avoiding the need for repeated therapeutic administration to the eye. Therapeutic agents can thus be delivered in a slow and sustained manner to the back of the eye where they are needed.
Delivering medicine to the eye has proved difficult because of what scientists call the “blood-retina” barrier. Currently, medicines can be injected directly into the eye, but this is an impractical approach if regular administration is required. Although many molecules have demonstrated therapeutic activity in animal models of eye disease, they have not been developed for use in humans because of the absence of an acceptable means of sustained delivery.
Neurotech’s technology and its applications are protected by a broad patent portfolio. Neurotech’s lead ECT product, NT-501, is in clinical development for the treatment of retinal degeneration, including retinitis pigmentosa, and geographic atrophy associated with the dry form of age-related macular degeneration.
“Rhode Island should be very proud of Neurotech. The programs used to accelerate the company’s expansion in Rhode Island are good examples of how the State can use strategic investments to promote job growth in target sectors of our economy,” says Michael Saul, Managing Director of Finance Programs for RIEDC.
According to Richard G. Horan, senior managing director, Slater Technology Fund, “The Slater Technology Fund is happy to have supported the early stage development of Neurotech. The company is one of Rhode Island’s most promising biotech companies. With excellent management, well-developed technology, and encouraging results in significant clinical indications, the company is in the vanguard of a next generation biotechnology company, combining the power of recombinant biologics with elegant delivery systems to treat unmet clinical needs of considerable commercial value.”
“We are proud of Neurotech’s selection of the Highland Corporate Park in Cumberland for their new facility,” stated Marcel A. Valois, Chairman of the Economic Development Foundation of Rhode Island (EDF-RI). “Our organization made a decision to develop the Cumberland Commerce Center, on speculation, as a strategy to attract high quality, technology based companies. Neurotech’s announcement validates our decision and adds to a growing list of high quality companies that have selected Highland/Cumberland for new investments.”
About Neurotech
Neurotech is a privately-held biotechnology company, located in Lincoln, Rhode Island, specializing in the development of innovative sight-saving therapeutics for chronic retinal diseases. Retinal diseases represent significant unmet medical needs for which new medical therapies are the largest market opportunity in ophthalmology.
Neurotech’s lead product (NT-501) is currently in development with two Phase II/III clinical trials for the treatment of visual loss associated with retinitis pigmentosa as well as a Phase II trial for the treatment of atrophic macular degeneration (dry AMD). Neurotech is also evaluating other factors that can be used with its proprietary delivery technology, Encapsulated Cell Technology (ECT), to treat additional retinal diseases.
To learn more about Neurotech and the clinical studies involving NT-501, please visit our web site at www.neurotechusa.com or www.RenoirRetinalStudies.com.
About EDF-RI
The Highland Corporate Park in Cumberland and the new office and manufacturing building are being developed by the Economic Development Foundation of Rhode Island (EDF-RI). The EDF-RI is a real estate based, private, non-profit economic development corporation with a statewide charter. The Highland Corporate Park in Cumberland, Rhode Island is a 250 acre, masterplanned office and technical manufacturing park. Highland offers a strategic location with direct highway access via Rhode Island Route 99, Route 146, and Interstate 295. Highland is located less than 15 minutes from Downtown Providence and Interstate 95; less than 30 minutes from Downtown Worcester, Massachusetts; and less than 60 minutes from Downtown Boston. For more information on Highland/Cumberland, visit www.hcpv.com.
Media Contacts
Neurotech
Ted Danse
President and CEO
The Economic Development Foundation of RI/Highland Corporate Park
Scott Gibbs
President
(401)658-1050
Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation
Andy Cutler
(401)743-7842
