OMAPiX Plants New Roots in Frederick, MD with I-270 Labs

I-270 labs has the great pleasure of introducing OMAPiX, a spatial omics data company based in Germany, as a new tenant in Frederick’s ever-growing BioHub region. This is a massive advancement to both Frederick and OMAPiX due to the translational research opportunities with their compatible spatial technologies. 

Further Enriching a Region of Life Science

With new roots comes more life. Frederick’s life sciences scene has grown rapidly into a robust city for its rich talent pool of researchers who already thrive in their omics and bioinformatics expertise. With this comes greater minds working together, advancing Maryland and the nation’s need for pivotal science. Just recently BioBuzz had the pleasure of writing on AstraZeneca (AZ) and Bio-Trac’s spatial biology symposium held in the Bioscience Education Center in Gaithersburg, MD, having featured esteemed experts from pathology, spatial biology, multiplex immunofluorescence, AI, and translational medicinal fields. 

OMAPiX’s mission is to collaborate, and this is demonstrated by its international partnerships and footholds that showcase its desire for shared intelligence. It has partnered with Vizgen and Ultivue from Massachusetts, Resolve Biosciences and Zeiss in Germany, HSE-AG from Switzerland, and Florida’s IQVIA. Each life science firm has a massive reach into the science field, and with OMAPiX’s new partnership as an I-270 Labs tenant, the connections within Frederick will only grow in both strength and intellectual density. 

One may ask, “Why Frederick over the more competitive bio-regions in America?” Boston was an option when OMAPiX evaluated regional life science locations in the country, though they decided with a clear conscience to land in Frederick because of the city’s tight biotech community with a fast-growing market, a trait that is unlike other hubs, such as Boston, which maintain a constant drag; Frederick, on the other hand, is in a positive uproar, rising above many as a possible competitor to even the Boston BioHub. Further, Frederick’s reasonable cost of lab space and Maryland’s overall cost-effectiveness proved the smarter investment for their company thus supplanting their US partnership in this buzzing city.

As Doug Bane, President & CEO of BaneBio, says: “After lengthy discussions between the I-270 management team and the OMAPiX management team, OMAPiX decided to start their business in Frederick instead of Boston. At I-270 Innovation Labs, we were able to provide the right size lab space, facility amenities, and lease flexibility to get OMAPiX started.  The talent pool in the Biohealth Capital Region, and particularly the Frederick community convinced the OMAPiX team that they made the right choice.  We are proud to have helped to land OMAPiX in Frederick at the I-270 Innovation Labs”.

The Future of Frederick’s Life Sciences

All of this being said, there is an obvious indication as to why Frederick has become such a striking topic for science experts and agencies all over the globe. It’s a city that adapts, that molds with its community. Like the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Frederick and their Werner H. Kirsten Student Internship Program, or the fact that the National Institute of Health (NIH) is just forty miles away in Bethesda, OMAPiX and I-270 Labs have struck a match that will light a warm and bright future for those there now and to come. The world requires evolution – it’s what human nature has both confounded and profaned for millennia – but an intellectual evolution is something that benefits not just the individual but the whole compendium of sentient beings. We each require medicine, knowledge, and the betterment of society. It’s what has propelled us forward in mere decades. Frederick is a city that excels in community; it’s a place of pathos, evoking the emotions of its inhabitants to work together.

“OMAPiX’s decision to establish a presence in Frederick County underscores the region’s life science advantages, including its strategic proximity to world-renowned institutions like the National Cancer Institute.  The addition of OMAPiX to our life science community solidifies the stature of Frederick County within the greater Washington region’s ranking as the #3 global life sciences cluster, and positions the County as a leader in the future of precision medicine and biotechnology,” states Lara L. Fritts, Director, Frederick County Division of Economic Opportunity

As a new I-270 lab tenant, OMAPiX’s pioneering field enables the study of the tissue microenvironment in unprecedented detail. They will embark on further studies in biomarker discovery, I/O targeted drug development, and cell and gene therapies. Their integration into Maryland academia will not only enhance the studies of their courses but create more job opportunities for recent graduates in the relevant fields. They’ve already innovated in large-scale tissue projects and disease management within academia elsewhere, and Maryland is a petri dish of young and inspiring life science intellectuals – the potential for medicinal epiphanies is beyond modern human thought.

And with scientific epiphanies comes the star of our show: spatial omics. It is what OMAPiX revels in, and as was previously mentioned, Frederick is already creating a new foothold from those in spatial omics like Bio-Trac and AstraZeneca. Their symposium is just a fraction of how much the city of Frederick has contributed to the life sciences, and OMAPiX will catalyze these studies even more. I-270 Labs has become a godsend with this new tenancy; it shows how much the city’s community cares deeply about creating new opportunities and innovations for the world. Their high-quality, purpose-built labs will prove a successful investment for OMAPiX. Like Frederick, I-270 Labs are adaptable and multimodal, nestled in the fast-growing BioHub region of Maryland.

OMAPiX is a welcome addition to the city of Frederick. With their inclusion, more will be inspired to join the scene. Frederick is and will only further cement its position as a fantastic region for those interested in life sciences, community, and the evolution of our world.