Seaport gets new cell therapy center
When Dr. Sharl Azar first entered medicine he noticed something disturbing almost immediately.
“I watched as a young man whose overwhelming pain still managed to betray his stoicism, was told by the physician who was caring for him in the (emergency department) that he’d received all of the Dilaudid he was going to get for today and that he should go get his fix somewhere else,” he said.
Azar, medical director at Massachusetts General Hospital’s Comprehensive Sickle Cell Disease Treatment Center, has worked since to combat suffering and stigma caused by those who suffer from that disease, and, on Tuesday, he was asked to speak at the opening of a new, stateof-the-art cell and genetic therapy center in the city’s Seaport neighborhood where that work will continue.
“Vertex is allowing our center to bring our patients the world-class care that they have long been denied,” he said.
Azar spoke as Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a Boston-based biotechnology company, officially opened their new corporate headquarters along Northern Avenue, where the drug developer will work hand in hand with hospitals like MGH to continue genetic research into the causes and — hopefully — the cure for diseases like sickle cell.
Called the Jeffrey Leiden Center for Cell and Genetic Therapies, the over 250,000-square-foot facility research and development facility includes 453 workspaces and 21,000 square feet of manufacturing space.
According to Leiden, Vertex’s executive chairman, the facility represents the future in the fight against serious chronic disease.
“I hope you can imagine a day when lifesaving cell and genetic therapies for many serious diseases — sickle cell, diabetes, muscular dystrophy — are being discovered, developed, manufactured and brought to patients by Vertex scientists and physicians working in this building…I promise you that day is not very far away,” Leiden said.
Gov. Charlie Baker was due to speak at the event but canceled his public appearances for the day after falling ill. Baker has tested negative for COVID-19, a spokesperson told the Herald.
Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, who serves on the state’s STEM Advisory Council with Leiden, stepped in to open the facility on Baker’s behalf.
“This is a very proud moment,” she said.
“Not just for the Leiden family and the Vertex team, but certainly for the city of Boston and for the commonwealth of Massachusetts.”
Dr. Reshma Kewalramani, Vertex CEO, also announced the company would further expand into the Seaport with another research facility just across the street.
She said the company will use the spaces to help solve serious medical problems.
“It’s going to happen. It may not happen tomorrow, but it’s going to happen in our lifetime,” she said.