Neurotech Pharmaceuticals Announces Rhode Island Expansion Plan
Neurotech Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the development of sight-saving therapeutics for chronic eye diseases, announced 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<