Company’s cancer treatment tech helps grow NH’s life sciences industry
Novocure’s new U.S. headquarters opened in Portsmouth on Sept. 3 with fanfare that included high praise from an assortment of New Hampshire’s elected officials, as well as optimism that its work on cancer treatments will help cement the state as the epicenter of life-altering health discoveries.
In her remarks at the ribbon-cutting, U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen linked Novocure to ReGen Valley, New Hampshire’s version of Silicon Valley, a biotechnology ecosystem led by the Advanced Regenerative Manufacturing Institute (ARMI) in Manchester.
“We’re very excited that you will add to the New Hampshire Life Sciences investment that’s being made. ARMI and Dean Kamen and Regen Valley in Manchester — we’re just extending it right down to the Seacoast. So that makes such a huge difference,” Shaheen said.
Kamen, who attended the Novocure opening, is ARMI’s executive director and chairman of the board. In January, Novocure joined New Hampshire Life Sciences as a founding member. NHLS is the state’s first industry-led life sciences association, dedicated to improving patient lives and establishing New Hampshire as a leading life sciences hub.
Novocure is an oncology company that develops cancer treatments, including Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) that use electric fields to disrupt cancer cell division. Founded in Israel in 2000, it established a field office in Portsmouth in 2006, most recently on Commerce Way in Portsmouth.
In December 2021, it purchased a former furniture store at Vaughn Mall and Hanover Street with the intent of building what it called a “flagship facility” for upward of 300 employees.
Remarks at the opening were given in the facility’s state-of-the-art training room. The company says the new training and development center will host medical professionals and other partners to educate them about Novocure’s FDA-approved cancer therapies.
“We are just incredibly excited to mark this day. It really reflects not only the hard work of everybody who is here and beyond, but really it reflects New Hampshire’s spirit of discovery,” said U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan. “We are a scrappy state that punches way above its weight, because we believe in entrepreneurship, because we believe that when people are free to do their very best and to be their very best, amazing things happen.”
On the day of the opening, the company announced that Ashley Cordova, who had been the company’s chief financial officer, had been elevated to chief executive officer, replacing Asaf Danzigner, who is retiring at the end of the year.
Gov. Chris Sununu was among the several elected officials who praised the opening of Novocure’s new U.S. headquarters in Portsmouth on Sept. 3. He was joined at the opening by, among others, (seated from left) Mike Ambrogi, Novocure senior technology fellow; U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan; U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen; and Portsmouth Mayor Deaglan McEachern. (Photo by Paul Briand)
“This new U.S. flagship facility represents our ongoing drive to innovate and push the boundaries of cancer care,” Cordova said. “It is where we will continue to dream big while remaining focused on the intentional, dayto-day efforts to turn those dreams into a reality.”
“We’re also proud that Novocure became the first founding member of New Hampshire Life Sciences, an organization dedicated to improving patient lives and establishing New Hampshire as a leading life sciences hub,” she added. “This is yet another way in which we’re striving to make a significant impact on the world of cancer care, right here from Portsmouth.”
Mike Ambrogi was Nonocure’s first U.S. employee and the one responsible for insisting on New Hampshire as a home for the company. A former chief operating officer, he is now a senior technology fellow, and he committed the company to being a good corporate citizen.
“Our commitment extends beyond business. It’s about supporting those who make this community strong,” said Ambrogi, singling out Families First, CASA, Gather, the Music Hall and others. “The commitment these organizations have to the community is inspiring, and Novocure is striving to be an exemplary corporate citizen and hopefully inspire other companies to do the same,” added Ambrogi, who served as the event’s emcee.
Gov. Chris Sununu said it’s not wishful thinking that New Hampshire will someday be on the cutting-edge of innovative health care technologies — it’s happening now.
“You are going to see a significant amount of forms of cancer cured in our lifetime through a variety of different ways, and there’s no doubt Novocure is going to be a big part of that as well,” Sununu said. “And it’s not just the initial devices they have. It’s the devices they’re going to generate in the future, the therapeutics that you add on to that and the growth of that.”
He cited the work at ReGen Valley and the fact that another biotech company — Novo Nordisk — is greatly expanding its workforce in Lebanon. Novo Nordisk produces medicines for chronic disease patients globally.
“The point is that, again, we really are not just trying, but have landed New Hampshire as a life sciences, regenerative medicine hub,” Sununu said.
Sununu made note of the competition that New Hampshire is in with its border states to attract business and industry. Bill Doyle, Novocure’s executive chairman, specifically cited the difficulty of doing business in neighboring Massachusetts.
Novocure personnel, along with local and state elected officials, crowd in front of the ribbon for the official opening Sept. 3 of the company’s new U.S. headquarters in downtown Portsmouth. Holding the ceremonial scissors at right center is Ashley Cordova, who was elevated that day from chief financial officer to chief executive officer, replacing Asaf Danzigner who is retiring at the end of the year. (Photo by Paul Briand)
“As we keep it entrepreneurial and free here in New Hampshire, this is going to be where the future of health care is created and delivered from the research that you know is legitimately going to continue to go on here,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas, D-1st District, noted that the attendance at Novocure’s opening by many life science partners is a testament to the state’s role in the biotech/medtech field.
“The leadership that Novocure is taking here to grow this ecosystem is a force multiplier when it comes to workforce development, when it comes to unlocking other breakthroughs and inviting other entrepreneurs into this space and really making sure that New Hampshire is leading the way, moving forward,” Pappas said.
Portsmouth Mayor Deaglan McEachern noted that the city’s motto — The City of the Open Door — means there’s no key to the city to present on occasions such as this. Instead, he gave Novocure officials an official door stop.
“We are just so incredibly proud of the work that goes on in here,” he said. “We are incredibly proud that when people are walking up Vaughn Mall, in addition to some fantastic Mexican food right next door, they’re going to be able to see and look in at the screens and see the future of what can happen.”
In February 2023, the N.H. Department of Business and Economic Affairs (BEA) released a report assessing the state of the life sciences industry in the Granite State. The study commissioned by the BEA found that the life sciences industry saw $4.3 billion in sales in 2021 and represents 11,290 jobs, with average salaries of $130,848 per year.
Among its strengths, the BEA study noted there are strong companies with a national and global presence, as well as a growing presence of small- to medium-sized companies, a high proportion of STEM occupations, and a strong presence of high-tech industry employment.
Among its challenges, the department noted meeting the needs of a rapidly growing and changing workforce, including attracting and retaining the number of workers needed in the future at all education and skill levels, and a relatively small number of venture capital investments.
