New state-of-the-art research and early development center to open in Cambridge Crossing

Bristol Myers Squibb is rapidly becoming a major biopharmaceutical presence in the Cambridge/Boston region and the company will soon have a new home in the area.  

Construction is currently underway on a 480,000 square-foot state-of-the-art Research and Early Development center that will bring together more than 550 employees now based in Kendall Square and Alewife. The new biomedical hub will be located in Cambridge Crossing, a 43-acre development at the intersection of Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston. The company’s work on cancer resistance, neuroscience and immune-related diseases — such as discovery biology, translational science and chemistry research—will be housed at the new location.  Additionally, work at the new site will facilitate end-to-end drug discovery: biotherapeutics, informatics and predictive sciences, drug metabolism pharmacokinetics and other research activities. 

Work on the new Bristol Myers Squibb building at 250 Water Street in Cambridge Crossing began in the fall of 2019, and the company celebrated a topping off ceremony at the site in February of 2021.  Current plans call for the building to be completed in January 2023, and employees are expected to relocate to Cambridge Crossing in the months that follow.

A former railyard, the Cambridge Crossing property is being converted into a vibrant, dynamic life science hub in a neighborhood that its developers say inspires collaboration, innovation and connection through its proximity to MIT, Harvard and Kendall Square.

“We were thrilled when we identified Cambridge Crossing as a location for us,” said Emma Lees, senior vice president and head of the company’s Mechanisms of Cancer Resistance Thematic Research Center. “The design of the building is visionary. It’s an exciting collaborative and innovative space for our employees and the work we do here in the Boston area.”

Bristol Myers Squibb’s new R&D home in Cambridge Crossing will be situated in a biotech hotspot that will be part of a neighborhood that includes residential units, community retail space and eleven acres of open public and green space. In keeping with New England tradition, Cambridge Crossing will feature a central common that can be enjoyed by employees, local residents and neighbors.  

The new Bristol Myers Squibb Cambridge Crossing site offers a spacious setting well-suited to a wide array of research-focused work and is designed with minimal interior columns and 15-foot ceilings.  With a commitment to sustainability and a clean, modern aesthetic, the building will showcase state-of-the-art green features and is LEED Gold certified.  The facility will be adjacent to multiple modes of transportation, including public transit (MBTA) lines, and it will have a large bike storage facility with lockers and showers, as well as three sizeable parking levels equipped with EV charging stations to provide ease of access for employees and visitors.

In the past decade, Bristol Myers Squibb has become a growing part of the Massachusetts life-science ecosystem.  In addition to its Boston presence, the company has an 89-acre Devens campus in central Massachusetts that supports process development, clinical manufacturing and commercial manufacturing for biologics medicines, including an immuno-oncology medicine. The Devens site is also the home of the company’s newest cell therapy manufacturing facility in the United States.