Blood therapeutics company Grifols has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell products in the United States that are produced at Grifols’ $370 million Clayton manufacturing addition, according to a news report.

The Reuters news agency reported that Grifols affirmed the approval November 17 for selling products from the new factory. When Grifols held a grand opening ceremony at the plant six months ago, company representatives said they expected to employ more than 200 new workers there, adding several therapeutic targets to their offerings.

Barcelona, Spain-based Grifols’ new 155,000-square-foot North Fractionation Facility is adjacent to another fractionation plant. The new one adds six million liters of plasma capacity a year, nearly doubling the Clayton campus’ production ability.

Grifols therapies are made from proteins derived from blood plasma purchased from collection centers around the country. Employees at the Clayton site extract the proteins through a process called fractionation.

Grifols became a major North Carolina life science presence in 2011 with its $4 billion acquisition of Research Triangle Park-based Talecris Biotherapeutics. Grifols owns 233 acres in Clayton, much of it yet to be developed. That gives the North Carolina campus an advantage over another Grifols fractionation campus in Los Angeles.

While the company said the new facility adds 200 workers to the 1,650 employees it already had in Johnston County, the additional acreage could accommodate more expansion and jobs in Clayton in the future.

Grifols is the largest Spanish company with a U.S. footprint. It has more than 10,000 U.S. workers, most of them in North Carolina. The company also has a major R&D facility in Research Triangle Park.

(C) NC Biotechnology Center