PRINCETON, NJ-Pharmasset, an antiviral drug discovery and development company, has signed a lease for 31,000 sf of headquarters and lab space at College Park at Princeton Forrestal Center here. The seven-year-old company is moving its home base here from Atlanta.

The move is tied to the company's recent collaborative licensing agreements with Incyte and Hoffman-La Roche for development of drugs used in the treatment of HIV and Hepatitis C respectively. "We now have easier geographic access to Incyte and Hoffman-La Roche," says Schaefer Price, Pharmasset's president and CEO. "Access to the experienced pharmaceutical talent in the area was also a key factor in our decision to move."

The company's new home is 303 College Rd. East, a 62,000-sf, one-story office/lab combo. The building and the larger College Park are owned by Lawrence Zirinsky Associates of New York.

The owner was represented by Vincent Marano, COO, and Tom Stange, leasing executive of locally based National Business Parks, Zirinsky's leasing and management arm. Pharmasset was represented by David Rubenstein of Miller-Richmond Co. of Atlanta and Todd Stires of Lamington Properties, Califon, NJ. Terms of the signing were not disclosed. Pharmasset's move was also facilitated by an unspecified grant from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

College Park, an 815,000-sf multi-building campus, is itself set for expansion, according to NBP's Marano. College Park 2 is planned as a five-building, 345,000-sf office/research center on 31 acres adjacent to the existing campus. College Park 3, which is currently in the approval phase, will consist of four buildings on 47 acres. Both complexes are being developed on a build-to-suit basis, according to Marano.