In the News

U-M's Pfizer site acquisition reflects biotech transition for Ann Arbor region

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Ann Arbor

Well it took two years, but Ann Arbor is starting to fully grasp the impact of Pfizer's decision to leave.

Excerpt:

Ann Arbor is no longer a big pharma town.

Pfizer is gone - it's official today - and in its wake the University of Michigan is seizing a remarkable opportunity to expand its research operations and acquire coveted property on Plymouth and Huron Parkway.

The University of Michigan's $108 million acquisition of the ex-Pfizer campus in northern Ann Arbor marks the end of the region's big pharmaceutical era. Parke-Davis, Warner Lambert and Pfizer are now ancestors of Ann Arbor's biotech evolution.

U-M's acquisition of the 174-acre site with 2 million square feet in buildings could be misconstrued as another step in the university's conquest of the Ann Arbor economy.

But the acquisition is not likely to lead to the demise of the region's biotech infrastructure. In fact, the emergence of a vibrant life sciences services sector in the wake of Pfizer's exit promises to sustain the local biotech community.

U-M President Mary Sue Coleman said she wasn't losing sleep over the end of the big pharma industry in Ann Arbor.

"I think what we have to assume is that some of these small ones will become the giants of the future. I certainly hope so," Coleman told me at the National Summit in Detroit. "Every company in its origins started out small. So I absolutely believe that there's great promise for the future."

Read the rest of the story here and the Top 5 lessons Ann Arbor learned from Pfizer's exit here.

In the News

U-M's Pfizer site acquisition reflects biotech transition for Ann Arbor region

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