Cummings Properties Media Release - February 9, 2009

MSM and MedChem Partners extend leases in Medford
Cummings Properties Media Release

Medford continues to appeal to life science firms as a viable, cost-effective alternative to Cambridge's higher leasing prices. Two biomedical companies have recently extended their leases at 200 Boston Avenue, Medford with Cummings Properties. MSM Protein Technologies, Inc., an antibody engineering company, has extended its lease for more than 3,500 square feet and MedChem Partners, a medicinal chemistry provider, has renewed its lease for nearly 1,200 square feet.

MSM is a growing biotechnology company that is said to have a proprietary suite of tools for drug discovery of functional antibodies and proteins against multi-spanning membrane proteins. MSM's technology maximizes the prospect for discovery of drug candidates that bind precisely to G protein-coupled receptors, ion channels and transporters, a difficult but critically important class of targets for therapeutic intervention

According to company officials, MedChem Partners offers comprehensive medicinal chemistry support to biotech, pharmaceutical companies and universities engaged in drug discovery and research. MedChem Partner's expertise in diverse therapeutic areas and chemotypes is said to cover all aspects of medicinal chemistry, from strategic planning to hit evaluation and validation to lead optimization and pre-clinical development.

Tony Spencer, a Cummings Properties' leasing/property manager, represented the firm in both lease extensions. Spencer reported that the highly attractive, multi-story office and R&D building, with ample, free covered parking and an on-site health club facility, is located only five miles north of Boston, one mile from both I-93 and Route 2, and has easy access to the MBTA bus service. He also added that the building is near Tufts University, Davis Square and the Alewife MBTA Station.

Spencer noted that as a result of recent client expansions, the building's Emerging Technology Centers currently have an incubator lab available for lease. "That is highly unusual as they are typically full," he acknowledged, "but with our expansion space guarantee and unparalleled service, coupled with the numerous, nearby amenities, we think it will fill up quickly." He reported that other cutting edge technology firms located at 200 Boston Avenue include Serica Technologies, Midé Technology Corporation, Nanobiosym, Inc. and Glycosyn Management.

Cummings Properties, a Woburn-based commercial real estate company, leases and manages two buildings in Medford, which make up just a portion of its nearly ten million square feet of prime commercial space in ten communities around Boston. More than 100 life science leaders are said to be among its more than 2,000 clients.