RALEIGH – CARsgen Therapeutics will build two facilities, create 200 new jobs and invest $157 million in Durham County, becoming the latest in a series of life science firms to expand in the Triangle.
The North Carolina Economic Investment Committee approved some $1.6 million in tax benefits in order to secure the expansion. Local Durham incentives and community college education support add more $1.5 million to the incentives package.
“We are very excited to receive the JDIG grant approval from the State of North Carolina,” said Dr. Zonghai Li, CEO, chief science officer and chairman of CARsgen Therapeutics. “CARsgen will continuously develop and embed innovations to advance the revolutionary CAR-T cell therapy for unmet clinical needs. The company has launched clinical studies of our leading CT053 and CT041 CAR-T cell therapies in the United States. The new facilities will expand our global cGMP manufacturing capacity to produce the innovative CAR-T cell products for the U.S. patients.”
The new jobs will pay a minimum wage of $76,000, which is slightly above Durham County averages wages, according to the EIC.
“Global companies know that North Carolina is a world class leader in biotechnology,” said Governor Roy Cooper. in a statement. “Our state’s skilled workers, educational institutions and business environment provide life science companies with the tools they need to succeed.”
CARsgen Therapeutics will build a 35,000 square foot lab followed by a 100,000 square foot manufacturing facility for cell therapy products.
These will be the first U.S. manufcaturing facilities for the company. It also has clinical operations in Houston.
North Carolina was selected over Maryland, which offered $35 million in incentives, according to the EIC.
