Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Vertex, AVEO, Shire share in tax breaks to create jobs

By Julie M. Donnelly, Boston Business Journal

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., AVEO Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Shire plc are among 28 companies that will receive substantial tax incentives from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC), in return for creating new jobs.

The MLSC, which is tasked with distributing money from the $1 billion Life Sciences Act, has just awarded a total of $21.2 million in tax incentives to 28 life sciences companies, which have promised to create 940 new jobs. If they fail to maintain the jobs for at least five years, the state can take the money back.

Shire, (Nasdaq: SHPGY) a profitable U.K. company whose rare disease unit is located in Lexington, has committed to create 100 jobs in return for tax incentives worth $3 million. Also today, Shire received approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for its VPRIV enzyme replacement therapies to be made at its new factory in Lexington.

Cambridge-based Vertex (Nasdaq: VRTX), which has had two drugs approved by the FDA in the past year and has recently become profitable, has also promised to create 100 jobs, in return for incentives worth $2.4 million.

Cambridge’s AVEO (Nasdaq: AVEO), which could potentially see its first FDA approval for a cancer therapy in the next year, has promised to create 94 jobs in return for incentives worth $2.3 million.

Other companies receiving more than $1 million include Weston-based Biogen Idec (Nasdaq: BIIB) which promised to add 75 jobs; Cambridge-based Ironwood Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: IRWD), which also promised 75 jobs; Cambridge-based Momenta Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: MNTA) which promised to create 50 jobs, and Raynham-based DePuy Othopaedics Inc., which committed to add 50 positions.

State-backed tax incentive programs took a public relations hit following the closure of Evergreen Solar of Devens, which had taken in state funds for manufacturing jobs. But Susan Windham-Bannister, president and CEO of the MLSC, said in a statement that “The Center’s tax incentive program continues to provide a solid return on the state’s investment by holding life sciences employers who receive our incentives accountable for their job creation commitments.”

Last year, the MLSC reported that 14 of the 26 Massachusetts life sciences companies that received state tax incentives in 2009 failed to meet their job creation commitments in 2010, the largest being to Genzyme Corp., which gave back its $6 million incentive in January 2011 after layoffs and the sale of one of its business units cut its headcount in Massachusetts.

The complete list of 28 life sciences companies is as follows:

• Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge gets $661,122, commits to 27 new jobs;
• AVEO Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge gets $2,301,683, commits to 94 new jobs;
• BFS Pharma Inc. of Randolph gets $20,000, commits to 10 new jobs;
• Biogen Idec MA Inc. of Weston gets $1,836,449, commits to 75 new jobs;
• Blueprint Medicines Corp. of Cambridge gets $160,750, commits to 15 new jobs;
• Boston Heart Diagnostics Corp. of Framingham gets $220,000, commits to 31 new jobs;
• Cell Signaling Technology of Danvers gets $489,720, commits to 20 new jobs;
• Courtagen Life Sciences Inc of Woburn gets $125,000, commits to 13 new jobs;
• DePuy Othopaedics Inc. of Raynham gets $1,224,300, commits to 50 new jobs;
• Essentient Inc. of Cambridge gets $320,771, commits to 21 new jobs;
• Ironwood Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge gets $1,836,449, commits to 75 new jobs;
• Knome Inc. of Cambridge gets $49,000, commits to 12 new jobs;
• LightLab Imaging Inc. of Westford gets $636,636, commits to 26 new jobs;
• Metamark Genetics Inc. of Cambridge gets $269,346, commits to 11 new jobs;
• Moderna Therapeutics Inc. of Cambridge gets $138,270, commits to 13 new jobs;
• Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge gets $1,224,300, commits to 50 new jobs;
• New England Biolabs Inc. of Ispwich gets $244,860, commits to 10 new jobs;
• NinePoint Medical Inc. of Cambridge gets $313,483, commits to 15 new jobs;
• Nova Biomedical Corp. of Waltham gets $244,860, commits to 10 new jobs;
• Organogensis Inc. of Canton gets $857,010, commits to 35 new jobs;
• PAREXEL International Corp. of Lowell gets $150,000, commits to 32 new jobs;
• PerkinElmer Inc. of Waltham gets $1,224,300, commits to 50 new jobs;
• Pharmalucence Inc. of Bedford gets $293,832, commits to 12 new jobs;
• Quanterix Corp. of Cambridge gets $465,234, commits to 19 new jobs;
• Ra Pharmaceuticals Inc. of Cambridge gets $161,270, commits to 10 new jobs;
• Shire HGT Inc. of Lexington gets $3 million, commits to 100 new jobs;
• T2 Biosystems Inc. of Lexington gets $244,860, commits to 10 new jobs;
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals of Cambridge gets $2,448,599, commits to 100 new jobs