MBI to open added space Incubator for life-science businesses

By Lisa Eckelbecker TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
11/9/11

WORCESTER — The nonprofit economic development group Massachusetts Biomedical Initiatives is developing its newest business incubator for life science companies in a downtown building that formerly housed Charles River Laboratories Inc.

MBI, operator of three Worcester business and research centers for entrepreneurs, plans to make improvements to existing chemistry laboratories at 55 Union St. to accommodate four to five startup businesses, according to Kevin O’Sullivan, MBI president and chief executive.

“What we’re trying to do is one floor, one lab at a time,” Mr. O’Sullivan said. “It’ll be fully operational, in my opinion, by the first of the year.”

MBI operates incubators at the Massachusetts Biotechnology Research Park off Plantation Street, a Barber Avenue building and the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Bioengineering Center at Gateway Park off Prescott Street. The incubators give young businesses small spaces to conduct research and development.

MBI is undertaking the new project with Nemucore Medical Innovations Inc., a privately held developer of nanomedicines for drug-resistant cancers. Nemucore previously occupied space in an MBI incubator and has leased about 22,000 square feet in the 55,000-square-foot building that once held Charles River Laboratories of Wilmington, a contract research organization. Nemucore is leasing about 10,000 square feet of its space to MBI.

“I didn’t need all the space at once, and I wondered if (Mr. O’Sullivan) wanted to work on it with me,” said Tim Coleman, president and chief executive of Nemucore.

TDG Union Street LLC, a real estate company based in South Boston, owns 55 and 57 Union St., according to city and state real estate and corporation records.

MBI is funding improvements to the Union Street location with some of the proceeds of a $680,000 loan from the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency. Mr. O’Sullivan said the loan allowed MBI to refinance an existing $580,000 loan at a lower interest rate and borrow an additional $100,000 for the Union Street improvements.