Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray and other state officials participated in ribbon-cutting ceremony

FRAMINGHAM, MA (Dec. 11) - CYTOO Cell Architects, a French biotechnology company focused on applications in cell based assays, high content analysis and cell screening for life sciences research, announced today that it is expanding its operations to serve researchers in the United States by opening a U.S. subsidiary headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts.

The company officially opened its United States headquarters in Framingham today. The company's main offices are in Grenoble, France. Company officials were joined at the ribbon cutting ceremony by Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray, Massachusetts Life Sciences Center President and CEO Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister, Massachusetts Department of Business and Technology Director George Ramirez representing the Massachusetts Office of International Trade & Investment, MassBio Economic Development Director Peter Abair, Senator Karen Spilka, Representative Tom Sannicandro, Representative Pam Richardson and Selectmen Ginger Esty, Laurie Lee and Dennis Giombetti.

"It is outstanding that CYTOO, an international company on the cutting edge of Life Sciences research, has sought out Framingham for its US headquarters," Representative Pam Richardson said. "Framingham is already home to a host of Life Sciences companies and I am pleased to welcome yet another."

CYTOO provides innovative enabling technologies and products for high content cell analysis. CYTOO chips streamline cellular analysis by decreasing cell variability. The chips are composed of four square inches of 20,000 concave geometric micropatterns, which standardize cell position, shape, and organization when the cytoskeleton architecture and organelle morphology adapt to the shape of the micropattern. By April 2010 the company hopes to release a new technology, CYTOO plates, which hold up to 384 wells of 1,000 micropatterns. The company is the first to offer a technology that standardizes cells, streamlining analysis and speeding up discoveries. By opening a US subsidiary in Massachusetts, the company hopes to better address the worldwide market for cell-based assays in life sciences research.

In June of 2008, Governor Patrick signed into law the Massachusetts Life Sciences Initiative, a ten-year, $1 billion commitment to maintaining and strengthening the life sciences as a major economic engine for the Commonwealth. Conversations with CYTOO began at the BIO International Convention, held in Atlanta in May, 2009. Company officials cite their meetings with MOITI and the Life Sciences Center, and subsequently with Governor Deval Patrick directly, as having been key to their decision to locate in Massachusetts.

"It is terrific to see our state's Life Sciences initiative, and our presence at BIO International, bringing new companies to Massachusetts," said Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray. "We warmly welcome CYTOO to the Commonwealth, to Framingham and to the diverse group of pioneering companies that make Massachusetts a global leader in the life sciences industry."

CYTOO's decision to locate in Framingham is part of a growing trend of foreign life sciences companies locating their regional headquarters in Massachusetts. Last week Systagenix Wound Management, a British company, opened its headquarters for the Americas in Quincy, Massachusetts. Biocell Center, an Italian company, recently opened their US headquarters in Medford, Massachusetts. The companies have cited the state's Life Sciences Initiative as a key factor in their decision to locate here.

"CYTOO's decision to locate in Framingham is a direct return on investment for our state's presence at the BIO International Convention in Atlanta this past May," said Dr. Susan Windham-Bannister, President & CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the quasi-public agency charged with implementing the state's Life Sciences Initiative. "Massachusetts is a great place to do business for life sciences companies, both international and domestic, and we welcome CYTOO to the world's leading life sciences Supercluster."