Ground Broken for Advanced Technology Facility to Accelerate Cancer Treatments

The planned facility will support the National Cancer Institute's mission of speeding up the development of new technologies and treatments for cancer patients.

"This site will be the center of an intensive new effort to bring together and nonprofit partners, working side-by-side, utilizing technological resources second to none, to more rapidly translate our latest genetic and molecular discoveries about cancer into effective new treatments that benefit patients," said NCI Director John E. Niederhuber, M.D., who led the shovel team November 12 in breaking ground for the Advanced Technology Research Facility.

Situated in Riverside Research Park, Frederick, Maryland, it will anchor a 177-acre research and development park that is expected to attract other life science, advanced technology, and education organizations that will work with the NCI toward a common goal.

The initial phase of the project will provide up to 330,000 square feet of space for offices and state-of-the-art laboratories, consolidating the Advanced Technology Program and the Biopharmaceutical Development Program, while also providing space for the Center for Cancer Research. The site will have expansion capacity for an additional 470,000 square feet, which may be occupied by life science and advanced technology NCI partner organizations.

In all, about 370 employees will move from the NCI-Frederick campus to Riverside when the building opens in early 2011. An additional 200 are expected to be hired through 2016.

"The NCI has identified an urgent need to convert basic research findings into effective cancer treatments that can be delivered to patients right away," said Larry O. Arthur, Ph.D., chief executive officer of SAIC-Frederick. "The consolidation of our operations into modern facilities will enable us to do just that, with the specific goal of shortening timelines, reducing costs, and increasing productivity — all of which will benefit cancer patients and people at risk for cancer."

Matan Companies of Frederick is developing a site for the new building and will work closely with NCI-Frederick to identify other potential lessees.

The project will support the NCI's Advanced Technology Partnerships Initiative (ATPI), which is designed to overcome major challenges in translational research by bringing together partners in government, industry, academia, and the nonprofit sector to explore novel approaches, pool resources, and avoid redundancies of infrastructure.