Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc., (NASDAQ:ARIA) which has seen a deep drop in its share value due to worries about the safety of its drug used to treat leukemia. The company has shelved its plans of moving into a headquarters and laboratory complex which is being built at Cambridge’s Kendall Square.
The company spokesman Jeffrey Krasner said that the company was stopping the internal work in the building and stated that it was unlikely that the company would move into the new building in early 2015. He would not comment if the company was looking to cancel the 15 year lease that it had entered into this year with Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc a builder based in Pasadena, California. Any cancellation of the lease will result in Ariad having to pay a large cancellation fee.
Even after the uncertainty of Ariad in moving into the new building which was to start a bigger bio science project called Alexandria Center officers are confident that the builder would find new buyers for the 386,000-square-foot area if required.
Brian Murphy, assistant city manager for community development said that what was happening was happening very fast and he hoped that both Ariad and Alexandria would work it out so that both parties can live happily. The same feelings were echoed by Cambridge City Councilor Leland Cheung who believed that the Alexandria would continue with or without Ariad.
Ariad had signed in January a 15-year lease agreement to take over about 60 percent of the two buildings. While the parties did not give out the exact financials, Ariad had raised $310 million in a January stock sale. The company had said last month, the it was amending the lease agreement to take over the rest of the available space.
