ALS research lab is the latest life sciences group to call Watertown home

In need of more space, the nonprofit has relocated from Kendall Square.

A researcher at the ALS Therapy Development Institute, which moved this week to a new lab in Watertown.Photo courtesy of ALS TDI

Yet another life sciences company is moving to Watertown.

The ALS Therapy Development Institute — a nonprofit lab that focuses on treatment for the devastating disease — is moving to 480 Arsenal Way from its home in Kendall Square. With more than 30 scientists, ALS TDI is among the world’s foremost drug labs focused solely on ALS, and its research needs have grown immensely since it opened its Cambridge lab in 2012, said chief executive Dr. Steve Perrin.

The 16,000-square-foot lab ― which the institute moved into this week ― will allow it to significantly upgrade its research capabilities, Perrin said.

It’s the latest in a wave of drug and life sciences companies moving to eastern Watertown, where lab buildings are in the pipeline or under construction in spots such as the old Arsenal Mall and the former campus of athenahealth. It’s one of several neighborhoods around the region emerging as alternatives to costly and crowded Kendall Square.