From inception to launch: City Therapeutics finds space in the heart of innovation

Life sciences innovation moves fast—and the right space, at the right time, in the right location, is essential to help patients.

When City Therapeutics set out to build a pipeline of innovative RNAi therapeutics, the startup partnered with JLL to craft a dynamic real estate strategy that supported its ambitious growth goals.

City Therapeutics is co-founded by Dr. John Maraganore, renowned life sciences leader and innovator. As the founding CEO of Alnylam® Pharmaceuticals, he led the advancement of RNAi therapeutics as a whole new class of medicines, bringing four approved medicines to patients around the world.

With a prestigious leadership team in place and the backing of leading biotechnology investor ARCH Venture Partners, City Therapeutics quickly became a company to watch. All it needed was the right space to bring its vision to life.

The City Therapeutics team knew they wanted to be in Kendall Square, becoming part of the vibrant convergence of access to talent, community and infrastructure to support growth. Greater Boston, with Kendall Square as an epicenter, is one of the top life sciences clusters in the world.

However, City Therapeutics needed to understand how much space they required for operations today and for measured growth in the future. Location was deemed fundamental for a successful launch out of stealth, and timing was of the essence. City Therapeutics was a year out from launch.

“With JLL’s market knowledge and negotiating prowess, we were able to land the ideal facility to accelerate our development of critical new treatments for patients who desperately need them.”

– John Maraganore, Ph.D., Founder and Executive Chair, City Therapeutics

John and his leadership team were committed to finding the right space that could accommodate the company’s specialized needs and business plan. To inform space requirements, the company’s leadership shared its scientific processes, anticipated clinical milestones, equipment needs and associated headcount growth with JLL for space programming. A nuance to the site selection process was that City Therapeutics needed robust chemistry infrastructure.

City Therapeutics knew that JLL’s life sciences specialists would bring elevated creativity and street-level market intelligence to the challenge. The company was able to quickly review and consider standard market listings. When JLL presented an ideal off-market space at 399 Binney Street— a premier, state-of-the-art LEED Gold building in the coveted One Kendall Square campus—City Therapeutics leadership knew they had found “the one.”

The second-generation space had previously been occupied by a company involved in chemistry R&D that had left behind its equipment and furnishings. As a result, City Therapeutics would be able to save several million dollars and countless labor hours on outfitting the space.

However, competition was strong for such high-quality space. Seizing the opportunity, JLL leveraged its position as a life sciences real estate leader, along with its ongoing relationships, to help City Therapeutics secure the space before it hit the market.

City Therapeutics was able to secure a tenant improvement allowance and favorable lease terms to align with its projected growth. As a result, the company avoided all capital expense, enabling it to further invest in innovation and business goals.

With ample funding and a sense of urgency to bring its innovations to market, City Therapeutics moved into a fully operational space at 399 Binney Street before build-out was complete. The construction schedule and phased build-out allowed for biology research to be performed while the chemistry laboratories were being completed.

City Therapeutics successfully launched in October 2024, setting out to further advance the therapeutic potential of RNAi medicines. Now, with science happening in the right space, the right talent onboard, and other abundant resources that a life sciences cluster affords, City Therapeutics’ visionary plan to achieve breakthroughs and impact patient lives is now becoming a reality.