The Venter Institute has raised $53 million through a sale-leaseback deal on its campus in Rockville, MD. And the deal would appear to help advance the institute's plans to build a new research facility on the campus of UC San Diego while shoring up its financial position in Maryland.
"We believe that this has positive implications for both JCVI's East and West Coast operations," Venter spokeswoman Heather Kowalski tells Xconomy's Bruce Bigelow. "To your question regarding the West Coast, we hope that this financially beneficial deal will enable us to continue to move forward with our plans to construct the carbon neutral lab facility on the UCSD campus as soon as possible."
The genomic research center made the deal with San Diego-based BioMed Realty Trust.
"With our more than 300 scientists and staff here in Rockville, along with our team of nearly 100 in San Diego, California we look forward to a long and prosperous future conducting the research that will positively change the world," J. Craig Venter says in a release.
- here's Venter's press release
- check out the Xconomy story