Europe's Biocell Center opens Medford office

Massachusetts life sciences leaders are set to join officials from Biocell Center this morning to announce that the European company is opening it North American headquarters in Medford, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center said.

According to its website, Biocell Center is a group of companies that operate worldwide in such fields as infertility, gynecology, andrology, and neonatology as well as private amniotic stem cell banking. The website says Biocell Center has offices in Italy and Switzerland.

While Biocell's Medford office will initially have five people, the company hopes to quickly grow its presence here, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center said.

Governor Deval L. Patrick has made the life sciences industry a priority of his administration on the grounds that local universities and research centers make the Bay State fertile ground for generating industry jobs and revenues. According to a group called MassBio, which tracks the local industry, there are roughly 40,000 biotech jobs in Massachusetts, up from about 30,000 in 2002.

Biocell Center's announcement is a bit of a boost for the Bay State and comes shortly after construction giant Tutor Perini Corp. said it was relocating its headquarters from Massachusetts to California. (Globe Staff)