MA: Human Metabolome Technologies to Expand to U.S., Open Lab in Cambridge

Human Metabolome Technologies, Inc. (HMT), the leading developer of capillary electrophoresis mass spectrometry (CE-MS) based metabolomics, announced the opening of its first U.S. office in Cambridge, Mass. The new office is expected to house up to 20 employees and a laboratory by 2015. HMT is based in Tsuruoka, Japan.

“Massachusetts is a global leader in cancer drug development, and HMT will be an important new addition to our oncology community. We are very excited that HMT has chosen to build its metabolomics technology business here.”

“Cambridge provides the perfect combination of academic and industrial arenas, especially associated with the field of life sciences, food engineering and environmental studies,” said Tsutomu (Tom) Hoshiba, President, HMT America. “HMT provides cutting-edge solutions to life scientists, medical doctors and pharmacologists via our state-of-the-art metabolomics technology based on capillary electrophoresis mass spectrometry (CE-MS), and we believe that Cambridge is the place to be for networking with businesses that will make the most of our solutions.”

The office location was based largely on accessibility for globally competitive pharmaceutical companies and research institutions to HMT’s most important metabolome analysis services, CARCINOSCOPE, which was specifically designed for cancer research, and BASIC SCAN for more global, general-purpose metabolomics research, including biomarker discovery and companion diagnostics.

“Thanks to our growth strategy of investing in education, innovation and infrastructure, Massachusetts continues to lead the world in life sciences,” said Governor Deval Patrick. “We welcome HMT to Massachusetts and look forward to working with them to create jobs and opportunities in the Commonwealth.”

“On behalf of the Center, I would like to extend our warmest congratulations to the team at HMT as they open their first U.S. office here in Massachusetts,” said Susan Windham-Bannister, Ph.D., President & CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the agency charged with implementing Governor Patrick’s 10-year, $1 billion Life Sciences Initiative. “Massachusetts is a global leader in cancer drug development, and HMT will be an important new addition to our oncology community. We are very excited that HMT has chosen to build its metabolomics technology business here.”

About HMT

Human Metabolome Technologies, Inc., (HMT) was founded in 2003 by Professor Masaru Tomita, Ph.D., Director of the Institute for Advanced Biosciences (IAB), Keio University, Japan, and by IAB’s Professor Tomoyoshi Soga, Ph.D. A Japan-based biotechnology company, HMT provides capillary electrophoresis mass spectrometry based metabolomics services, aiming to provide complete solutions for metabolomics research in biomarker discovery, drug design, diagnostic technology and food production.