Creavis, Evonik’s strategic innovation unit and business incubator, has opened an Innovation Satellite with labs and offices in Cambridge, Mass., in the Greater Boston metropolitan area. The activities will initially focus on research and development for healthcare innovations like nucleic acid-based medicines. Evonik’s Venture Capital activities in the healthcare sector will benefit from the presence in North America’s life sciences cluster.
“With our new Innovation Satellite in Cambridge, we are extending an invitation for collaboration to the brilliant minds across this dynamic region,” says Anil Saxena, the head of the Innovation Satellite who also leads Evonik’s Research, Development & Innovation (RD&I) in the North America region. “We look forward to weaving our capabilities into the local life sciences ecosystem and advancing the industry‘s growth,” adds Christian Kessler, head of Creavis’ life sciences unit.
The Greater Boston area is one of the world’s largest biotech hubs with more than 1,000 biotechnology companies ranging from small startups to established pharma giants ─ due to an unparalleled ecosystem of world-class academic institutions like MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), venture capital firms, and a collaborative environment. Evonik is a long-time member of the MIT Industrial Liaison Program, which is dedicated to creating long-term strategic relationships between the university and large corporations worldwide.
Evonik’s Venture Capital arm focuses its healthcare investments on building a portfolio of technologies and product solutions to serve pharmaceutical and medical device partners. The investment focus encompasses drug delivery technologies, cell culture, tissue engineering, and medical implants.
North America has a thriving R&D ecosystem because of world-class universities, innovative companies, and an entrepreneurial startup scene. Creavis’ Cambridge Innovation Satellite is another example of Evonik’s ongoing R&D globalization. In 2022, Evonik inaugurated an Innovation Hub in Allentown, Pa., consisting of more than 60 state-of-the-art testing and processing labs as well as a pilot plant. In 2023, Evonik broke ground on a global-scale production facility for pharmaceutical lipids in Lafayette, Ind., which enables the development of cutting-edge medicines for cancer and other diseases. Evonik’s Lipid Innovation Center is being built on the grounds of the company’s Tippecanoe Labs site and will position Evonik for future growth in novel messenger RNA (mRNA)-based therapies beyond COVID-19 vaccines.
"Addressing the global challenges of our time requires the worldwide collaboration of competent partners, and we are looking forward to jointly developing innovative solutions. We are strengthening regional R&D in North America and Asia to benefit from innovative ideas outside of Europe and be closer to our customers in those regions," says Ralph Marquardt, the Chief Innovation Officer of the Germany-based specialty chemicals company.
“North America has become a crucial growth region for Evonik,” adds Guido Skudlarek, Evonik’s President North America. “The Cambridge Innovation Satellite will contribute to the next phase of our expansion in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.”
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Evonik emerged as a key partner for leading vaccine producers in securing the availability of pharmaceutical lipids. Lipids will also be crucial for future applications of mRNA technology in infectious disease control, cancer immunotherapy, protein replacement, and gene therapy. For the biopharmaceutical industry, Evonik provides pure cell culture ingredients for use in a wide range of applications including research and development, manufacturing, and medicinal purposes. The Innovation Satellite will be a key driver to accelerate new developments in the field of nucleic acid-based medicine and cell culture.
Evonik generated €3.8 billion in revenue in North America in 2023, a quarter of the Group’s total.
