PX’Therapeutics mulling site for U.S. office

Baltimore Business Journal - by Julekha Dash Staff

Leaders at the University of Maryland BioPark are courting French biotechnology executives looking for a spot along the East Coast to open a new U.S. office. Such a partnership could lead to new lease deals and research collaborations between University of Maryland scientists and their counterparts in Europe.

The west-side biotech park hosted more than a dozen executives this month from a region known as Lyonbiopole in Southeast France. The region is home to more than 70 biotech companies.

And so far, at least one French company is looking at the biopark as a possible site for its U.S. subsidiary. The talk between officials at the Lyonbiopole and the UM BioPark is an example of how biotech companies are collaborating in order to share resources that are limited in a down economy.

“We think a lot of business will come out of it,” said Jane Shaab, UM’s assistant vice president of economic development. Since both the UM BioPark and the French one focus on creating vaccines and treating infectious diseases, talking about a collaboration made sense, Shaab said.