The decision was made following an extensive analysis of potential locations for EnVivo to establish a European office for its operations. The proximity of Schiphol airport was an important advantage. The Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA) in Boston and The Hague, together with the WestHolland Foreign Investment Agency (WFIA) and the Leiden Bio Science Park foundation, assisted and advised EnVivo in the choice of an office at Schipholweg, close to Leiden Central Station.
“I'm very proud to welcome EnVivo here to our city of Leiden,” said Henri Lenferink, mayor of the city of Leiden. “We believe this is a great decision for EnVivo, the park and our city. I am convinced that a bright future for EnVivo lies ahead.”
“We are proud of our new location in Leiden,” said Kees Been, President and CEO of EnVivo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. “We look forward to establishing our European presence as we progress our pipeline of novel central nervous system therapies.”
Leiden Bio Science Park
Leiden Bio Science Park is the largest medical life science knowledge cluster in the Netherlands. Besides knowledge, research and academic institutions, there are 85 Life Sciences companies located at the park. Together, these organizations form a unique ecosystem, where all phases of drug development are represented.
Assistance by the Dutch authorities
The WFIA together with the NFIA assisted and advised EnVivo Pharmaceuticals during the relocation process. The WFIA represents the local authorities and the NFIA is an operational unit of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation. Both agencies work closely to assist international companies in establishing, expanding or relocating their operations in the Netherlands. Foreign investors and companies bring new knowledge, employment and investment to the Netherlands. Recent research by the Statistics Netherlands Institution shows that foreign firms more than proportionately contribute to the Dutch economy with 17% of all employment and 32% of total turnover attributed to them. In addition, foreign companies account for 30% of all investments in Research & Development in the Netherlands.
About EnVivo Pharmaceuticals
EnVivo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and its subsidiaries (“EnVivo Pharmaceuticals” or “EnVivo”) are dedicated to discovering and developing small molecule therapeutics for disorders of the central nervous system (CNS). EnVivo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a biotech company located in Watertown, Mass. The company’s focus is on building an integrated company and it is working to convert its broad pipeline into a range of CNS therapies that leverage novel mechanisms of action by altering the progression of disease and providing improvement in cognitive and overall function. EnVivo’s lead product is an alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist that has successfully completed Phase 2b clinical trials in both schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease. EnVivo’s other development programs include an epigenetics program based on Histone Deacetylase inhibition (HDACi), a Gamma Secretase Modulator program and a potent and selective PDE10 inhibitor program. For more information about EnVivo, visit www.envivopharma.com
Source WFIA Leiden, August 3, 2012