NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The Institute for Systems Biology announced today it is relocating to a new space in Seattle allowing it to grow its operations.
ISB is expected to move into its new 140,000 square-foot home at 401 Terry Ave. N. next spring. The new facility, which had formerly served as the headquarters of Merck/Rosetta Inpharmatics, more than doubles the institute's current space and increases by 60 percent ISB's space specifically dedicated to research, it said in a statement.
In addition, it will eventually allow the institute to grow its research space by 120 percent over its current space, ISB added.
The move will offer a centralized location for all its employees and "provides easy access to some of the most effective research institutions in Washington state," ISB Co-founder and President Lee Hood said. Hood was also a co-founder of Rosetta Inpharmatics.
Other institutions and organizations located near the new facility include the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute, the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute, Novo Nordisk, Seattle Children's Hospital, and UW Medicine, the University of Washington's network of hospitals, clinics, doctors' offices, and its School of Medicine.
Hood added that the new location will also help the institute recruit additional faculty "as well as provide the space for future growth and the creation of new strategic partnerships."
Since the institute's founding in 2000, its budget has risen to $50 million from $10 million, while the number of employees has climbed to more than 300 currently from 105. Within a decade that figure is expected to reach about 500, the institute said.
When it moves into its new home, ISB expects to have more than 330 employees.
GenomeWeb Daily News first reported on the potential move to the space last month, though ISB officials declined to discuss it at the time. According to documents filed with Seattle's Department of Planning and Development, renovating the space was valued at $8 million.
ISB's new home is located in a building owned and managed by Vulcan Real Estate, which is owned by Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft.