Oregon biotech bolts to Seattle |
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Oregon biotech bolts to Seattle
Well, this is interesting timing. A day after I called out Entrepreneur magazine for naming Portland one of its top entrepreneurial cities, Oregon has lost one of its publicly-traded biotech companies to the Seattle area.
AVI BioPharma, a Corvalis, Oregon developer of RNA-based drugs, said today that it is moving its corporate leadership team as well as some of its scientific operations to a new 19,000 square foot facility in Bothell. The reason?
AVI wants to tap into Seattle's talent pool in the biotech arena.
"This move to the biotechnology hub in Seattle provides us with important competitive advantages in accessing experienced executives, scientists and regional collaborators," said Chief Executive Leslie Hudson in a press release.
The decision is a shot in the arm for the Seattle biotech community, which has experienced its fair share of setbacks in recent months.
The company plans to keep some staffers in Corvalis, where a focus will remain on developing drugs for the biodefense arena and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.
In addition to the headquarters staff, AVI plans to work on a new drug for Duchenne muscular dystrophy out of the Bothell location.
AVI -- traded on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker AVII -- boasts a market cap of just over $200 million. The stock was up about four percent in trading today.
I have a call into the company to see how many people may be moving to the region and its hiring plans here.
But AVI does have some connections to the region. Its board include Christopher Henney, a well known Seattle area biotech leader who was instrumental in starting Immunex, Icos and Dendreon.
UPDATE: A spokeswoman with the company says that AVI employs 85 people and about 15 people will be located in the Seattle area initially.
Follow John Cook on Twitter @johnhcook.
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