Woodbury, NY - November 7, 2013 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), a preeminent international research institution, broke ground on its Preclinical Experimental Therapeutics Facility in Woodbury, Nassau County. The project, which is moving forward on the strength of a $2 million award from Governor Cuomo’s Regional Council initiative, will help the Laboratory retain more than 900 jobs and significantly advance CSHL’s Cancer Therapeutics Initiative by establishing an advanced drug testing facility.

“This expansion project demonstrates how Long Island is becoming a leading hub for scientific and medical study,” Governor Cuomo said. “With the support of the Regional Council Initiative, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is moving forward with a facility that will enable critical research seeking to advance the quality of healthcare around the globe. I am pleased that the project is now underway, and look forward to seeing its positive impact on the region for years to come.”

LIREDC Co-chairs Kevin Law, President, Long Island Association and Stuart Rabinowitz, President, Hofstra University, said, “Today’s groundbreaking is a major milestone not only for Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Long Island, but also for the critical research CSHL conducts to find new and innovative ways to treat cancer and improve the quality of life for people around the world. This project was identified as a priority by the Council in 2011 because it creates jobs, spurs economic development and advances the health and technology industry on Long Island. We congratulate Dr. Stillman and all of CSHL’s current – and future – employees, and look forward to seeing the completion of this important new facility.”

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory is a private, non-profit institution with research programs focusing on cancer, neurobiology, plant genetics, genomics and bioinformatics. CSHL currently employs over 600 scientists and over its history has had eight Nobel laureates work at the Laboratory. The first human cancer gene was discovered at CSHL and many key findings on genetic mechanisms and pathways of cancer have been made at the Laboratory. The project, part of CSHL’s Cancer Therapeutic Initiative, consists of the construction of the Preclinical Experimental Therapeutics Facility, a key component of translational research on lung, liver, pancreatic, brain, prostate and breast cancers as well as melanoma and leukemia. The facility will be located at CSHL’s Woodbury campus in Nassau County.

Dr. Bruce Stillman, President & CEO, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, said, “With this new facility we want to maximize the impact of what an academic institution like CSHL does best: discover targets for new cancer therapies based on our deep knowledge of cancer biology. The Cancer Therapeutics Initiative aims to deliver well-validated drug candidates to industry. Industry can then focus on what it does best: optimizing candidate molecules and testing them in cancer patients. CSHL envisions collaboration with other research and clinical centers as well as biotech and pharmaceutical companies that can both contribute to and benefit from the vertically integrated CTI pipeline.”

In Round 1 of the Regional Council initiative, the Preclinical Experimental Therapeutics Facility was deemed transformative by the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council and endorsed as a Priority Project, receiving the full backing of the Council. As a result, CSHL was awarded $2 million in performance-based incentives from Empire State Development to assist in establishing the Preclinical Experimental Therapeutics Center. ESD’s funding is supporting a portion of the $15 million project, which will result in the creation of 30 new jobs.

Empire State Development President, CEO & Commissioner Kenneth Adams said, “New York State is pleased to assist Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s advanced testing facility, helping to support its transformational research and development work and further grow the biotech cluster on Long Island. CSHL’s new $15 million facility will not only allow this premier research institute to expand its capacity in cancer research, but will also create more than two dozen new, high paying jobs.”

CSHL has consistently been rated #1 in the world by Thompson Reuters for its impact on molecular biology over the last ten years; it is one of sixty-three institutions supported by the Cancer Centers Program of the National Cancer Institute (NCI); and has been a NCI-designated cancer center since 1987.