Jul. 6—United Therapeutics will expand its efforts to manufacture 3D-printed organs in Manchester's Millyard, taking over space previously occupied by Autodesk.

Autodesk, a fixture in the Millyard for more than two decades, closed its office at 100 Commercial St. on June 17, according to a company spokeswoman. Its prominent rooftop sign, viewed from Interstate 293, came down last week.

Manchester inventor Dean Kamen, who owns the building along with several business partners, said United Therapeutics CEO Martine Rothblatt had asked for more space as the company's efforts to build patient specific manufactured organs have grown.

"We said, 'Why don't we just let you have that whole building and you'll grow into it in the next year,'" Kamen said Tuesday afternoon. The company needs specialized space for its labs.

"It's a win-win because (Autodesk) wanted smaller space," he said. "And (United Therapeutics) needs more space."

Like many other companies, California-based Autodesk plans to have more workers with hybrid schedules, working part of the time remotely, according to Mary Garofalo, brand communications manager.

Autodesk, which is best known for its architecture and engineering software products including AutoCAD, came to the Millyard in 2000 after consolidating locations in Bedford and Henniker. The company filled much of the Commercial Street building with as many as 200 workers.

Autodesk renewed a lease for about 20,000 square feet in 2020. The company has an office in Boston.

United Therapeutics' subsidiary Organ Manufacturing Group has been in the building since 2018. Until recently, the company took up about one-third of the building, Kamen said.

The discussions with United Therapeutics, a Maryland public benefit corporation with nearly 1,000 employees, came about during the annual spring meeting of non-profit Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute, or ARMI. The ultimate goal of ARMI is to produce human body parts from the recipient's own DNA.

The Organ Manufacturing Group research and development labs in the Millyard aim to "manufacture an unlimited supply of transplantable organs before the end of the decade," its website reads.

United Therapeutics teamed up with 3D Systems printers to manufacture 3D printed lung scaffolds. Such transplants are expected to reduce the cost of health care and medical therapies, Rothblatt said in a statement. The company brought in more than $1 billion in revenue in 2020.

More than 2,524 patients in the U.S. received a lung transplant in 2021, with 1,075 on the waiting list as of June 3, according to the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration.

The company hopes to be cleared for human trials in under five years, according to a news release.

United Therapeutics is part of ARMI, which started with an $80 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense, which supported the effort for its potential to help injured soldiers. Rothblatt, who founded Sirius Satellite Radio, serves on the board of directors.

A spokesman for United Therapeutics confirmed the expansion into the rest of the building but could not say how many workers would be based in the building.

Kamen hopes the "sleepy old Millyard" will become known for its regenerative medicine — the manufacturing of human skin, blood and organs.

"Let Silicon Valley be on the West Coast," he said. "But we are about carbon. We are about life. So let's make 'Carbon Valley' on the East Coast. And let's make it here."

jphelps@unionleader.com