The University City Science Center, the first and largest urban research park in the country, has grown alongside the companies it has nurtured since 1963. Good thing, too, as those companies are needing more and more space.
Avid Radiopharmaceuticals and AlumiFuel Power have moved from the center’s Port Business Incubator to its new 155,000 square foot building at 3711 Market Street. As a result, forty high-paying life sciences and alternative energy jobs are staying in West Philadelphia as the two companies remain along the Avenue of Technology.
Avid’s move into 16,000 square feet of custom-fitted office and lab space comes just four years after it spun out of the University of Pennsylvania. Avid, which develops molecular imaging agents that aid in detection of diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, employs 37 and in May completed the first closing of a $34.5 million Series D financing.
AlumiFuel, which employs six, is an alternative energy company that generates hydrogen gas and steam for multiple niche applications.
“Government investment in the life sciences and energy technology sectors–and the Science Center in particular–is paying off,” says Science Center president and CEO Stephen S. Tang.
The Science Center, which moved its headquarters into the new building last September, accelerates technology commercialization, regional economic development, and market availability of life-enhancing scientific breakthroughs and has created more than 15,000 jobs in Greater Philadelphia. The Science Center also launched a regional business calendar this week on its website. The calendar will include events from more than 200 organizations in the region.
Source: Stephen S. Tang, University City Science Center
Writer: Joe Petrucci
