Dana-Farber Cancer Institute said today it will expand its research space by moving in starting later this month into portions of five floors at a recently-completed laboratory building in Boston’s Longwood Medical Area section.

The new space will house Dana-Farber's chemical biology, structural biology and proteomics programs, as well as the Belfer Institute for Applied Cancer Science. The cancer institute said “a significant portion” of its basic discovery research will be conducted there—as will a large component of the Experimental Therapeutics program, which carries out translational research in lung cancer.

The Belfer institute, which is affiliated with Harvard Medical School, focuses on translating oncology research into new treatments through collaborations with pharma companies.

Last year, for example, the Belfer institute launched a three-year collaboration with the Janssen Biotech as well as Johnson & Johnson Innovation, Boston—formed to catalyze R&D collaborations between regional innovators and Johnson & Johnson. The collaboration aims to determine the lung cancer patients who would be most likely to benefit from a new generation of immunotherapies, as well as the combination of such therapies holding the promise of being most effective.

Belfer established a research collaboration with Merck & Co. in 2007 aimed at discovering new cancer targets and therapeutics for those targets, with the partners extending their alliance in 2010. That year, Belfer and Sanofi-Aventis (now Sanofi) 2010, launched a collaboration to identify and validate new cancer targets, as well as discover new drugs and associated biomarkers.

“Longwood Center provides Dana-Farber with an unprecedented opportunity to reorganize our campus to accelerate the application of basic discovery and translational science into treatments that can improve the lives of cancer patients and families,” Barrett Rollins, M.D., Ph.D., Dana-Farber’s CSO, said in a statement. “We will use this space to expand our chemical biology programs, which are the cornerstone of our new cancer therapeutics initiatives.”

Lab space at Longwood Center has been designed with open spaces and is organized by cluster or “neighborhood,” a design intended to promote collaboration, creativity and productivity while optimizing natural light, views, and operational efficiency.

Dana-Farber will occupy a total 155,000 square feet at Longwood Center under a 15-year lease with an option to renew. The cancer institute is the major tenant at the 414,000-square-foot building, owned through a joint venture of global lab space developer Alexandria Real Estate Equities; regional developer National Development; and real estate investment manager Clarion Partners.

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