Gladstone Expands Research Footprint With 105,000 Square Feet of New Laboratory Space

Gladstone Institutes has secured more than 105,000 square feet of future laboratory space in a newly constructed building at 1450 Owens Street, empowering its scientists with the tools and environment to create medicines of the future.

Located a block from Gladstone’s headquarters in San Francisco’s Mission Bay neighborhood, the new space will be home to approximately 300 scientists across 20 labs, with state-of-the-art equipment and computational abilities, starting in early 2027.

“We’re at a revolutionary moment in science and medicine,” says Deepak Srivastava, MD, president of Gladstone. “Driven by transformational technologies pioneered by our researchers and the explosive growth of computational power, we no longer have to accept disease—we can now envision prevention and cures. With an expansion into 1450 Owens Street, we will be writing the next chapter of medicine.”

Gladstone executed a long-term lease with the building’s owner, operator, and developer, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc., with an option to purchase the leased premises within the building in the future.

“Gladstone is a prolific innovation engine at the forefront of developing new therapies to address some of the more than 10,000 diseases known to humankind that remain unsolved,” says Joel S. Marcus, executive chairman and founder of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE). “We deeply value our nearly two-decade strategic relationship with Gladstone and are honored to welcome them as the anchor tenant at 1450 Owens Street in our Mission Bay cluster.”

The expansion is funded through Gladstone’s five-year, $350 million capital campaign, Gladstone NOW. Launched in September 2024, the campaign is harnessing philanthropic power to scale wisely by adding lab space and multidisciplinary scientists; catalyze breakthroughs with high-risk, high-reward research; create a computational powerhouse to unlock the potential of artificial intelligence x biomedicine; and close the gap between the moment of discovery and the minute that cures and new therapies reach patients around the world.

An Environment for Innovation

Gladstone moved into its current Mission Bay headquarters in 2004, pioneering the development of what is now one of the nation’s leading life sciences hubs. The nearly 200,000-square-foot building at 1650 Owens Street has served as a launchpad for Gladstone’s exceptional growth over the past two decades.

This growth included the creation of two new institutes: the Gladstone Institute of Data Science and Biotechnology in 2018, led by Katie Pollard, PhD, and the Gladstone-UCSF Institute of Genomic Immunology in 2020, led by Alex Marson, MD, PhD. These will be the first to occupy the new space.

Two of Gladstone's fast-growing institutes—one focused on AI and data science, and the other on immunotherapy development—will be co-located in the new building at 1450 Owens Street, just down the block from Gladstone's headquarters. (Image courtesy of Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.)

“Gladstone is at the forefront of leveraging artificial intelligence for scientific progress,” Pollard says. “AI has completely reshaped research, the drug discovery process, and clinical trials, with the potential to dramatically lower the cost of care. We’re excited to pioneer the next generation of biotechnologies in our new space to solve disease.”

The field of immunology is also at an inflection point, as scientists begin to understand how specific DNA sequences control the behavior of specialized cells comprising the human immune system. Along with this, extraordinary advances in DNA sequencing, CRISPR engineering, and synthetic biology are expanding knowledge about genetic regulation of immune cells and how to alter them to improve health.

“In our new laboratories, we will design and produce tailored immunotherapies to treat cancer, autoimmune diseases, and infections,” Marson says. “Already, we’re marching toward progress. But with this new building, we can sprint toward it.”

A Plan for the Future

When Gladstone’s data science and genomic immunology institutes move into 1450 Owens Street, valuable space will become available in the existing building at 1650 Owens Street, which is now exceeding capacity. Gladstone’s three other institutes—focused on cardiovascular disease, neurological disease, and infectious disease—will have critical room for expansion to bring curative therapies to bear.

Gladstone also maintains the possibility of expanding its existing building in the future to accommodate further growth while remaining fully in the Mission Bay district.

“Our new facility will be among the crown jewels of the Bay Area biotech ecosystem when it comes online in early 2027,” Srivastava says. “We look forward to co-locating our fast-growing immunotherapy and computational biology operations in the new space, and seizing the opportunity to recruit trailblazing scientists in each of our disease areas from around the world.”