Big Week for Biotech in Westchester

Westchester’s booming biotech industry, a sector strongly supported by The Business Council of Westchester, received a significant boost this week with major announcements from two of the county’s leading biotech centers.

On Tuesday, Royal Philips announced its Philips Intellispace Genomics research team will be sharing space at the NYMC new biotechnology incubator, BioInc@NYMC and working on collaborative computational genomics. “Bringing on Phillips Healthcare Research as the anchor tenant at BioInc@NYMC is a true game changer – for the college, Westchester County and beyond. The positioning of nine innovative companies alongside such a notable name in healthcare research will add to the already impressive track record of our start-ups and the medical solutions they develop,” said Randi D. Schwartz, M.B.A., Director of BioInc@NYMC and Associate Dean for academic administration.

Working from space on the NYMC campus in Valhalla allows Philips to collaborate more closely with its innovation partners at the College and their affiliated teaching hospital, Westchester Medical Center. BCW President and CEO Marsha Gordon attended a ceremony at the biotech incubator to announce the move along with County Executive Robert P. Astorino, State Senator Terrence Murphy, NYMC Vice President of Government Affairs Dr. Robert W. Amler, and County Office of Economic Development Director William M. Mooney III.

Also this week it was reported that Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., New York’s largest biotechnology employer, made its second major real estate investment in Westchester in two years with the $50 million acquisition of the New York Life Insurance office building in the Town of Mount Pleasant. New York Life will be moving to downtown White Plains. Last year, Regeneron purchased a vacant 100-acre parcel that adjoins the Landmark at Eastview campus where Regeneron is headquartered. The biotech giant recently announced plans to develop a 1 million-square-foot research and development campus with nine buildings and five parking structures on the site.