Date: Oct 01, 2015 Author: Lisa Tsering Source: (
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A biotech company that did the largest IPO in Berkeley history has leased an entire West Berkeley warehouse and will move its labs and offices there by 2016, helping to bolster the city's reputation as a world-class life sciences hub.
Aduro Biotech Inc., led by UC Berkeley biochemist Stephen T. Isaacs, specializes in creating drugs designed to strengthen the immune system to fight off cancer. They work on some of the toughest-to-fight tumors, such as pancreatic cancer and mesothelioma.
The company went public in April, raising $119 million in Berkeley's largest-ever initial public offering. It currently employs around 80 people in a smaller space on Bancroft Way.
Aduro's new home is located at 740 Heinz Ave., and is part of the 18-acre Aquatic Park Center research and development campus built by Wareham Development.
"We anticipate the Heinz building will service our needs for years and will create multiple job opportunities within the Berkeley community," Isaacs told Berkeleyside in an email.
The four-story, 110,000 square-foot LEED Gold building is "the first flexible, state-of-the-art life science building to be constructed in Berkeley since 2001," according to a Sept. 18 press release from San Rafael-based Wareham.
DGA, a leading laboratory designer specializing in the life sciences, designed 740 Heinz; the development team included BNBT Builders, Nova Partners and Tipping-Mar and Associates.
Aduro has signed a 12-year lease for the new headquarters, committing to half the space now, with an option to lease the rest of the space in July.
Stephen T. Isaacs, CEO of Aduro Biotech Inc. Photo: Aduro Biotech
Stephen T. Isaacs, CEO of Aduro Biotech Inc. Photo: Aduro Biotech
Isaacs, Aduro's president, director, chairman and CEO, has deep roots in Berkeley. A graduate of UC Berkeley's biochemistry department, he served on the faculty of the university's chemistry department from 1978 to 1986, and is an inventor on more than 40 issued patents. Isaacs formerly led the Cerus Corporation, a biomedical products company, and founded the biotech research and development companies HRIS Associates and HRI Research.
It was important to Isaacs to situate the company here, he said.
"The Bay Area is a thriving region for the industry and it continues to spawn innovative biotech leaders," he said. "While the South Bay and Peninsula house a large number of biotech companies, organizations like us who are based in the East Bay are able to attract talent on this side of the bay in addition to scientific talent from UC Berkeley."
