Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Cubist expands lab research facility

By Mass High Tech Staff

Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. has opened its new 35,000-square-foot research facility at the company’s biopharmaceutical headquarters in Lexington. The facility, constructed of environmentally friendly materials, adds enough lab space to fit an additional 100 people, officials said.

Gov. Deval Patrick attended the opening ceremony, where he applauded both Cubist Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CBST) and the leadership of the life sciences industry in general.

In July, Cubist announced an exclusive agreement in which the company would provide sales and promotion of London-based AstraZeneca PLC’s (NYSE: AZN) broad spectrum antibiotic Merrem I.V. in the U.S. for a guaranteed $20 million annually. The deal went into effect July 1. Merrem I.V. is an antibiotic used to combat skin infections, pediatric bacterial meningitis, appendicitis and peritonitis.

Cubist announced in December an agreement to buy Seattle’s Illumigen Biosciences Inc. in a deal worth up to $341.5 million.

Cubist develops pharmaceutical products for the acute care environment. The company reported a net income of $48 million for 2007 on revenue of $294.6 million.