Spark Therapeutics: CHOP spinout is building 28,000 sq. ft. office

Spark Therapeutics, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia gene therapy spinout company, will build out a 28,000 square foot office inside the University City Science Center‘s proposed 3737 Market Street building, it announced this week. The announcement follows news of the company winning several awards, including both the PACT Enterprise Award and PA Bio Award for “Deal of the Year.”

The company currently employs 15 and plans to grow to 50 by the end of the year, which is when they hope to move into the new office. We’re working on getting more details on what kinds of positions Spark Therapeutics will be hiring for, but the release notes that the office will house business operations, clinical research and development and manufacturing. For context, the Spark headquarters is bigger than the average startup office (RJMetrics’ new space is nearly 13,000 square feet for a team of roughly 40) That’s to be expected for a life sciences company that needs lab space. It’ll be just a bit bigger than Kensington coworking space Impact Hub (27,000 square feet).

Spark Therapeutics is currently housed in the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, which invested $50 million in the company (that’s the “Deal of the Year” that PACT and PA Bio reference). It’s one part of CHOP’s push for in-house entrepreneurship — a way to diversify revenue streams. The hospital partnered with Osage University Partners to increase the amount of investment behind its spinouts and with DreamIt Ventures to identify potential faculty startups.