WOBURN, Mass. (November 4, 2025) – Minerva Biotechnologies, a clinical-stage cancer therapeutics developer, has expanded from Waltham to the Woburn life sciences cluster. Company leadership, local officials, and representatives from Massachusetts’ innovation and life sciences ecosystem convened at Cummings Park last week to celebrate the launch of Minerva’s new 13,000-square-foot lab and office facility.
“We are very excited to be in our new labs in Cummings Park as we sprint to the finish line in our development of transformative drugs to treat and even prevent cancers,” said Cynthia Bamdad, Ph.D., Founder, CEO, and CSO of Minerva.
A ceremonial ribbon cutting marked Minerva’s official induction to Woburn’s large community of innovative biotech and medical device companies.
“We’re proud to welcome Minerva Biotechnologies to Woburn and to see their groundbreaking work take root here,” said Woburn Mayor Mike Concannon. “Companies like Minerva strengthen our growing life sciences ecosystem, and we look forward to supporting their continued growth and success.”
Marking a Milestone
Participants included Bamdad and COO Ron Axelrod, along with Mayor Concannon and Woburn economic development manager Casey Hagerty; Massachusetts Office of Economic Development regional director Alexandra Husted; Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) chief business officer Jeanne LeClair; and MassBio business development manager Marisia Ketchum.
Also present were several representatives from Cummings Properties, including founder Bill Cummings, client engagement and partnerships manager Sue Howland, account manager Alyson Veo, and senior director of leasing Rob Yacobian.
“Minerva Biotechnology continues to demonstrate why Massachusetts is the global leader in life sciences,” said Husted. “We’re grateful to Cummings and the City of Woburn for their partnership in supporting innovative companies like Minerva as they grow and thrive here in the Commonwealth.”
“Companies doing groundbreaking work such as Minerva’s advances in CAR T cell therapy are the type of organization MLSC is designed to support,” said LeClair. “The Commonwealth has invested $1 billion as part of the Mass Leads Act to build an infrastructure and ecosystem where companies like Minerva can thrive.”
Rewriting the Rules of Cancer Therapeutics
Minerva is the first company to uncover the shared mechanism between cancer and early stem cell growth, a discovery that has paved the way for a new class of treatments aimed at dismantling the survival systems that allow tumors to resist therapy and recur.
The company’s research focuses on MUC1*, a molecule essential for both early embryonic stem cell development and cancer growth, aberrantly expressed on the surface of approximately 75% of solid tumors. Minerva has completed the first successful human trial of a CAR T cell therapy for solid tumors and received FDA approval to launch a trial of its next-generation tumor-targeting CAR T, huMNC2-CAR22.
Building on this momentum, Minerva has developed a next-generation antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) designed to overcome resistance to existing therapies. The ADC program is expected to reach Investigational New Drug (IND) submission within 9 to 12 months. More information is available at www.minervabio.com.
About Cummings Properties
Cummings Properties’ 11 million square feet of commercial real estate accommodates labs and clean rooms, offices, healthcare facilities, restaurants, retail storefronts, warehouses, executive suites, and more. With a portfolio of this size and variety, the firm can meet virtually any commercial real estate need. Its in-house experts in design, construction, and property management offer “one-stop shopping” for the business community. More information is available at www.cummings.com.