Artiva Biotherapeutics Takes 52,000 Square Feet in Sorrento Valley/San Diego

 By David Gross

With steep manufacturing requirements, Immuno-Oncology developers continue to take on large blocks of space for both R&D and production.  Nkarta recently took 88,000 square feet in South City for this purpose, while fellow CAR-NK supplier Senti Biosciences took 92,000 square feet across the Bay in Alameda.  Down the coast in the Sorrento Valley near San Diego, Artiva Biotherapeutics is taking 52,000 square feet at 5505 Morehouse Road, an Alexandria Real Estate property under redevelopment.

Lease rates are unknown at this time, but asking rents in the area are pushing into the low 60s, and Sorrento Therapeutics recently took over 100,000 square feet nearby at Healthpeak's Sorrento Gateway Project.  

Allogeneic cell therapies like Artiva's offer significant opportunities for real estate developers because they need significant amounts of space and lessees are often less price sensitive than creators of monoclonal antibodies or more mature biologics as there is less industry experience with scaling up these products.