Astellas Reveals Plans for South San Fran Biotech Campus

Astellas Pharma Inc. announced plans to create an integrated biotech campus in South San Francisco as its West Coast innovation and research center. The new 154,000-square-foot structure—which is expected to become operational by summer 2023—will allow for the co-location of several Astellas business units and functions that are currently located independently throughout the San Francisco area.

The new innovation and research center will feature employees across research, technical operations, medical and development, commercial, and administrative support functions. Astellas will be financially committing approximately $70 million in order to create the new state-of-the-art facility, which will offer lab and co-working spaces for future development, as it advances a range of innovative cell and gene therapies for patients with limited or no treatment options, including rare diseases and cancer.

"By uniting our business units in the Bay Area, we are creating a dedicated West Coast center in the vibrant South San Francisco corridor alongside other leaders in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry," notes Yoshitsugu Shitaka, PhD, chief scientific officer at Astellas.