Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. Executes 15-Year Lease Extension with NIH for 60,000 RSF of Mission-Critical Space at Alexandria's 9800 Medical Center Drive Campus in Shady Grove Life Sciences Center

PASADENA, Calif., Oct. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), the leading owner, operator, and developer of high-quality, sustainable real estate for the broad and diverse life science industry, is pleased to announce a 15-year lease extension with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for approximately 60,000 RSF at Alexandria's 9800 Medical Center Drive campus in the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center of Rockville, Maryland. In addition to the lease extension, Alexandria announces the delivery of an additional approximately 75,000 RSF, also with a 15-year term, to the NIH at the same location. With a total commitment of approximately 135,000 RSF, the NIH will site mission-critical divisions, including the prestigious National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), at Alexandria's four-building, approximately 282,000 RSF campus. The NIH's compelling need to extend and expand its presence reflects Alexandria's AAA location in Maryland's I-270 Corridor, Class A campus, and longstanding reputation, experience and expertise as the best-in-class provider of high-quality real estate for the government's most important life science initiatives.

The NIH divisions sited at Alexandria's 9800 Medical Center Drive campus include NCATS; the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; and the National Institute of Drug Abuse. NCATS, which was pioneered by NIH Director Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, and established in December 2011, has received an unprecedented annual funding level – more than $550 million. NCATS will occupy approximately 80% of the NIH's 135,000 RSF, the majority for the NCATS' Division of Pre-Clinical Innovation. The NCATS' Division of Pre-Clinical Innovation advances collaborative research projects across the pre-clinical phases of the translational science spectrum. The largest project in this division is the Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases (TRND) program, which aims to encourage and speed the development of new drugs for rare and neglected diseases through collaborations among NIH and academic scientists, nonprofit organizations, and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

 "We are privileged to have a longstanding and trusted relationship with the NIH," said Joel S. Marcus, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Alexandria. "NCATS is a highly innovative initiative designed to catalyze the development of novel, breakthrough basic and translational research and we are proud that the NIH has chosen our world-class campus for its home."

In addition to the NIH, Alexandria's 9800 Medical Center Drive campus also houses high-quality client tenants including Canon U.S. Life Sciences, Inc., Institute Merieux, Sanaria Inc., Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, and the Stanley Medical Research Institute.

About Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE: ARE), a self-administered and self-managed investment-grade real estate investment trust ("REIT"), is the largest and leading REIT focused principally on owning, operating, developing, redeveloping and acquiring high-quality, sustainable real estate for the broad and diverse life science industry. Founded in 1994, Alexandria was the first REIT to identify and pursue the laboratory niche and has since had the first-mover advantage in the core life science cluster locations including Greater Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, New York City, Seattle, Suburban Washington, D.C., and Research Triangle Park. Alexandria's high-credit client tenants span the life science industry, including renowned academic and medical institutions, multinational pharmaceutical companies, public and private biotechnology entities, United States government research agencies, medical device companies, industrial biotech companies, venture capital firms, and life science product and service companies. Investment-grade client tenants represented 46% of Alexandria's total annualized base rent as of June 30, 2013. As the recognized real estate partner of the life science industry, Alexandria has a superior track record in driving client tenant productivity, collaboration, and innovation through its best-in-class laboratory and office space adjacent to leading academic medical research centers, unparalleled life science real estate expertise and services, and longstanding and expansive network in the life science community. We believe these advantages result in higher occupancy levels, longer lease terms, higher rental income, higher returns, and greater long-term asset value. For additional information on Alexandria, please visit www.are.com.

SOURCE Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.