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Biotech Company Plans to Build Headquarters Off Route 120 in Lebanon – Valley News


Lebanon — A biotech company that manufactures antibodies for medical research is hoping to expand its footprint in Lebanon by building a new facility on Labombard Road in the Route 120 corridor.

Lebanon-based firm Bio X Cell submitted an application on Monday asking for Planning Board approval to build a 26,000-square-foot facility near the newly opened Hilton Garden Inn.

The building would allow the company, which leases two spaces near the Lebanon Municipal Airport, to grow its operations in a single facility.

“The current spaces are small and do not support their future plans for business expansion to 40 employees,” Project manager Adam Morse of Engineering Ventures wrote in a letter to city planners. “Having the entire company under one roof would greatly improve workflow.”

The property, located in the city’s industrial zone, would be improved with a new parking lot, stormwater treatment areas and additional landscaping, according to the project application.

Construction would begin after building permits are issued and would take six to nine months to complete.

Officials at Bio X Cell declined to comment on the expansion plans on Tuesday because they haven’t yet closed on the 2-acre property owned by Etna developer Jay Campion. The lot is one of four that was subdivided shortly after the $12.3 million hotel project was approved, said Campion, who now is looking for buyers.

“The city just spent over $3 million improving the sewer line for that area, and there’s a fairly limited amount of industrial space in the city,” he said on Tuesday. “It shouldn’t be surprising that people are showing up with business ideas.”

Development of the Route 120 corridor is “encouraging” and could help to expand the city’s tax base, said Campion, who predicted that other tech companies will be looking to move to the area.

News of the Bio X Cell move comes as the city looks to promote itself as a high-tech hub, capable of catering to businesses that work alongside or were spun off from ventures at nearby Dartmouth College or Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.

Officials are looking to create both a marketing plan that would draw new business to Lebanon and a commission that could help direct new development.

They say Lebanon’s proximity to both the college and hospital already has generated a tech community that includes Hypertherm, FujiFilm Dimatix and several startups at the Dartmouth Regional Technology Center, a nonprofit business incubator in Centerra Marketplace.

“It’s no surprise that they wanted to be here,” said Rob Taylor, executive director of the Lebanon Area Chamber of Commerce.” It’s good news where we stand that another company is choosing Lebanon.”

The city’s Planning Board is scheduled to discuss the building proposal during its next meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 14 at City Hall.

Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.





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