Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, a developer of RNAi therapeutics, has opened a new 37,000-square-foot office and R&D laboratory in the Alewife area of Cambridge, Mass.

"Dicerna's relocation from Watertown to larger, more centrally-located office space in Cambridge reflects our continued growth and success, and accommodates future expansion plans," said Douglas M. Fambrough, Ph.D., CEO of Dicerna. "Dicerna has more than doubled its footprint in the new space and now employs approximately 45 people, with plans to hire an additional 10 employees this year, and many more going forward."

The company's new office exemplifies its entrepreneurial, employee-focused culture, with an open office plan and various meeting and workspaces, which are designed to foster innovation, communication, collaboration and teamwork.

Dicerna's move to Cambridge underscores its commitment to being an employer of choice in the Massachusetts life sciences sector, and to being in close proximity to world-class research, academic and healthcare institutions as well as other life sciences leaders. Dicerna will play an active role in Alewife business community as the area undergoes a revitalization to become a mini life sciences and technology hub.

Last year was a pivotal year for Dicerna. The company began 2014 with a successful IPO, raising $103 million. Dicerna also initiated two phase I clinical trials for its DCR-MYC program in oncology, the culmination of years of focused effort to bring its Dicer substrate short-interfering RNA (DsiRNA) therapeutics into clinical development. In 2015, Dicerna will start clinical development of a second innovative medicine, DCR-PH1, which has the potential to be a functional cure for the serious and difficult-to-treat genetic disease primary hyperoxaluria type 1 (PH1).