Novocure (NSDQ:NVCR) announced today that it signed a purchase and sale agreement for an office building in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
The agreement covers the acquisition and construction of the building at 64 Vaughan Mall, situated centrally in downtown Portsmouth. The purchase price for the property totals $9.5 million and, after closing (expected on or before Dec. 31), Novocure will enter into a construction agreement with an affiliate of the seller on a cost of work plus fee on a guaranteed maximum price basis, with that maximum price set at $14.5 million.
St. Helier, Jersey-based Novocure will use the property to provide space for its growing employee base in Portsmouth and house a training and development center for physicians and partners to learn more about the company’s tumor treating fields (TTFields) technology.
TTFields — electric fields designed to disrupt cancer cell division — are intended principally for use with other standard-of-care cancer treatments, as Novocure touts a body of evidence supporting its broad applicability with other cancer therapies, including radiation along with certain chemotherapies and immunotherapies.
Novocure established its U.S.-based operations in Portsmouth in 2006, beginning with one employee and growing to more than 300 employees there today.
“We continue to expand as a global oncology company, having grown into a workforce of more than 1,100 employees and having treated more than 21,000 patients with our therapy today,” Novocure Executive Chairman William Doyle said in the release.
