ARMI expands into former Dyn space in Manchester
Apr. 8—Dean Kamen knows about rehabbing old brick buildings in Manchester's Millyard after opening DEKA Research and Development Corp. here four decades ago.
Just a year ago, the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute, a nonprofit Kamen founded in 2016, opened BioFabFoundries, a 25,000-square-foot space with "clean labs" at 540 N. Commercial St. That space is now at capacity.
Kamen's vision continues to grow with the purchase of 150 Dow St., once home to Dyn, an internet performance company which was acquired by Oracle in 2016. The space now will be used for the next steps in advancing efforts to manufacture human cells, tissue and organs.
"I think people have not yet figured out how fast this is going to go," Kamen said. "In a relatively short period of time, Manchester is going to emerge as the epicenter of a whole new industry."
About a quarter of the building — 100,000 square feet — will be converted into a biomanufacturing and training facility for ARMI. The Dyn space has been vacant for at least three years.
Kamen and business partner Robert Tuttle bought the building from Carlisle Capital for $23 million earlier this year. Kamen said they did not want to put the burden on the nonprofit.
Tuttle said the two had looked at purchasing the building around the same time Carlisle Capital bought it in 2017 and reached out later looking to buy.
"What was disappointing for (Carlisle) was not being able to fill that space," he said. "They tried for many years and were never able to rent a foot of it."
Current leases in the building will remain in place; tenants fill about half of the usable space in the mill.
Original plans, which called for ARMI to build new lab space at the site of the National Guard Armory, fell through.
Last week, Kamen and deputy executive director Maureen Toohey showed off clean labs at 540 N. Commercial St., which is across the street from 150 Dow.
"These clean rooms are perfect for development and the early phase clinical trial," Toohey said. The space at 150 Dow will be used for more advanced clinical trials and commercial biomanufacturing.
"We are still in the process of designing the new space," she said.
The expansion into 150 Dow comes as ARMI partner United Therapeutics is renovating nearly 80,000 square feet at 100 Commercial St. for about $26 million, according to building permits. United Therapeutics CEO Martine Rothblatt is committed to making history out of the space.
"The sole purpose of that building is to be the first manufacturer of FDA-approved replacement human organs," Kamen said.
ARMI was founded with an $80 million federal grant to focus on large-scale manufacturing of human cells, tissues and organs. The organization now has more than 190 member partners, each of which has the rights to their intellectual property.
Kamen also has an ownership stake in 540 N. Commercial Street and eight Commercial Street properties — Nos. 50, 70, 88, 100, 286, 324, 340 and 400. The partnership also owns a commercial condo at 500 Commercial St.
Tuttle admitted the partnership had to pay "over market" to lock the space down. Kamen called it an insurance policy for future growth.
Biofab hub
The retrofit on the space is being funded by a $44 million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and more than $12.5 million in matching funds.
The emergence of a biofabrication cluster will "transform the Southern New Hampshire economy," further grow the regenerative manufacturing industry, create new high-quality jobs and increase wages, according to a project narrative.
The project is expected to bring nearly 7,000 direct jobs and create opportunities for universities, incubators for early-stage companies, wet labs for research and development and supply chain partners.
The number of dues-paying member organizations is expected to increase and provide long-term sustainability.
Jeremy Hitchcock, Dyn co-founder and former CEO, said this new use represents the evolution of 150 Dow, where sweaters once were made and internet infrastructure later was developed.
"Dyn represented one generation of innovations, and ARMI and some of the bio stuff that is taking place in Manchester is a brave new future for the city," he said.
Hitchcock is sold on the idea of Manchester becoming the epicenter of the emerging industry.
"We have people who are literally moving across the country, whether it's San Francisco, who are at United Therapeutics," he said.
ARMI training
Kamen admits Manchester might not be the first place the industry might pick to grow, but mentioned the city's proximity to places like Dartmouth College and Harvard Medical School.
"You look, and we are at the center of the best-educated cross-section of engineering schools and medical schools and institutions," he said.
The plans for 150 Dow include building 80,254 square feet across two floors for clean rooms and labs for biomanufacturing, which is expected to cost $31.2 million. The facility will have space for contract manufacturing organizations, which work with companies on smaller-scale trials.
The companies also will branch out and open their own facilities, much like Silicon Valley or other industry-specific regions of the country.
"Why did the automotive industry all center around Detroit? It wasn't for the weather," Kamen said. "They needed steel. They need iron. They needed machine shops to do casting and forging. And then they need glass and rubber."
A 25,973-square-foot space on a single floor to be used for training, labs, classrooms and meeting space will be constructed for $5.2 million. The space is expected to open by next summer.
"We are also having a certified apprenticeship program to train the workers that are going to be needed for this," Toohey said.
Mike Decelle, chief workforce officer at ARMI and dean at the University of New Hampshire Manchester, said UNH and Southern New Hampshire University are working on creating workforce programs.
"It is important to hire people with the right basic training and the right basic skills," he said.
The training facility will be geared around the specific contract manufacturing needs.
"The way ARMI imagines this is there will be a lot of different programming done there (at the training center)," he said. "Some of it will be done by ARMI, by UNH and even by other partners and vendors."
Kamen knows some people are skeptical about the overall mission of ARMI.
"I've learned to not be discouraged by people who can't see the future," Kamen said. "In fact, if all people could see it, we wouldn't be unique. This city wouldn't out-compete with cities with more resources. I am glad that a whole bunch of people don't see the future very clearly, because that makes it a real opportunity for us."
He remembers being ridiculed by the locals after moving from New York and investing in the Millyard.
"There is a reason why 150 years ago this was the largest single industrial complex in the world," Kamen said.
The Millyard has supported a wide range of industries over the years.
"We knew we would finally emerge as a focused new industry and now we got it," he said.
