Worcester Firm Works To Strengthen Ties To Morocco | Company plans manufacturing plant and possible school in Casablanca
When academics pursue research and develop business plans around that research, it can be a strong catalyst for bringing countries and their economies together.
A perfect example of this is SWR Therapeutics here in Worcester, which is an outgrowth of another startup company called Wesagen. Dr. Mustapha Abdelouahed and Dr. Jack Lawler, both of Harvard University, created both companies.
Wesagen is devoted to anti-cancer drugs and their delivery, while SWR Therapeutics is focused on improving protein medicines, such as the Human Growth Hormone, insulin and a variety of interferons, while making their delivery better.
Back To His Homeland
As they work on better ways to attack cancer and other illnesses, Abdelouahed has also found ways to reach back to his Moroccan homeland to help build a cutting-edge research and development laboratory and pharmaceutical manufacturing plant.
Abdelouahed said the plan is to work with an existing Moroccan company, Casablanca-based Pharma 5, to create the plant, which should be built in the next eight months or so.
Abdelouahed’s success at universities in Paris of cardiovascular medicine, pharmacology, immunology and his studies with Dr. Lawler at Harvard University led him to begin thinking about how to provide biotechnology-related science education at the college level in Morocco.
“There is no school with microbiology studies in North Africa,” he said, adding he has been fortunate to pursue a degree overseas and to research the thrombospondin gene, which is associated with wound healing, blood vessel growth and tumor formation, at Harvard University. And he would like to see more Moroccan students pursue careers in science.
Thoughts about creating a school like the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Morocco led him to talks with another educator in Morocco with the same idea, and now they are working together to bring such a school to the Marrakech area.
And he encourages Moroccan students to do well in school and apply to the top schools and colleges in the United States.
“I tell them to aim for the top, apply to Harvard University and other such schools,” he said. But he wishes leaving the country to get a good education in microbiology wasn’t necessary. And while some students will return to Morocco after a U.S. education, many may end up like his family, living in the U.S. and intending to stay here.
Connecting Abroad
Abdelouahed sees connections everywhere: here in the U.S., where he works with Lawler and keeps up with what other researchers are doing, while keeping abreast of companies and research in Morocco.
Lessac Holdings LLC is the name of the holding company for Wesagen and SWR Therapies. The company’s name means “connections” in Arabic when it is spoken.
“You start to have a universal spirit,” he said about the focus on science and transferring that technology to the commercial arena.
Kevin O’Sullivan, who heads the Massachusetts Biomedical Initiative incubators, including the one on Innovation Drive where Lessac is headquartered, sees scientists like Abdelouahed as an important part of America’s future.
“We need immigrants here. My ancestors came here and made a place for themselves, God bless them. And the same thing applies to these young scientists. Every time we make it harder for them to come here and study, they choose another country and lose market share. We need them to be competitive. And guess what? Once they’re here and they’re motivated by the science, they want to stay here.”
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