The following information is from a press release from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center.

BioScale Inc. celebrated its new digs in Lexington yesterday, welcoming Lt. Governor Timothy Murray, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center President & CEO Susan Windham-Bannister, biotech industry representatives and state and local leaders to the official opening of a new 30,000 square foot laboratory and manufacturing facility.

In addition to Murray and Windham-Bannister, the ribbon-cutting ceremony at 4 Maguire Road included state Reps.Jay Kaufman and Thomas Stanley, MassBio Vice President of Policy & External Affairs John Heffernan and BioScale CEO Mark Lundstrom.

The new BioScale facility will house research and development, applications development and instrument manufacturing of novel analytical tools enabling advancements in the cutting edge protein research. The company also will manufacture its consumable MEMS sensor cartridges and reagents used in the analysis of proteins at the Lexington site.

“We’re excited about our new home in Lexington,” said Lundstrom. “The positive response we have received from the launch of BioScale’s ViBE product line required us to grow our facility and functionality.  We’re building out additional sales, marketing, manufacturing, and application development areas.  This growth required a new, better equipped, and larger facility to enable the company to realize its full potential.  We expect the pace of research into complex diseases will continue to accelerate as researchers uncover biomarkers that elucidate the diagnosis and improve treatment options. We believe the power and performance of the ViBE platform will allow pharmaceutical and biotech companies to cut drug discovery and development times and, one day, allow physicians to personalize treatments and provide more informative diagnostic tests.” 

BioScale secured $25 million of venture capital funding in 2010 and was selected as one of the 2011 Top 300 Global funded IDEAS companies. The company currently employs nearly 50 professional, scientific and manufacturing employees and consultants. 

"BioScale is an example of the type of fast-growing company that makes Massachusetts a global leader in the life sciences,” said Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray.  “As the Patrick-Murray Administration focuses on creating jobs in every region of the Commonwealth, I am encouraged by BioScale’s growth as well as other life sciences companies that are expanding along the Route 128 belt and beyond, bringing the economic benefits of our life sciences Supercluster to communities across Massachusetts.”   

As BioScale executes its commercialization plans in 2011, it expects to see accelerated employee annual growth through 2012 with many of the roles in supply chain, sales, service, marketing, manufacturing and operations.  In addition, BioScale utilizes the strong internship programs of the local university networks in Cambridge and Worcester for its engineering, marketing and laboratory operations. The company was co-founded by Lundstrom and three MIT professors. Its proprietary technology is an integration of aerospace science developed at MIT and licensed technology from Charles Stark Draper Labs.

“It was a pleasure to join BioScale for the grand opening of their new Lexington facility today,” said Windham-Bannister, of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the quasi-public agency charged with implementing the state’s ten year, $1 billion Life Sciences Initiative.  “As our life sciences companies grow, they are finding that many areas of our state offer the space, infrastructure and resources they need to succeed. BioScale is joining companies like Shire HGT and Cubist in choosing Lexington as a great place to do business.”

Kaufman, the rep from Lexington, echoed those sentiments.  

“I’m thrilled that yet again, another top Life Sciences company has chosen Lexington for their headquarters,” he said. “They join an impressive list of companies that recognize the many benefits of our community.”