Astellas Gene Therapies shifting CA production to Sanford
California’s loss looks like North Carolina’s gain.
Astellas Gene Therapies is closing a production site in South San Francisco and transferring all of its projects to a biomanufacturing facility in Sanford, N.C.
The company, a unit of the global biopharmaceutical company Astellas Pharma of Tokyo, will consolidate its gene therapy production at a $100 million plant it opened in Sanford’s Central Carolina Enterprise Park in 2022.
The 135,000-square-foot Sanford facility, employing over 100 people, provides clinical- and commercial-scale manufacturing capabilities for Astellas’ pipeline of gene therapies.
The closing of the 52,000-square-foot California plant will affect about 100 employees, The gradual closure is expected to be completed by March 2025, a company spokesperson told BioSpace, a life sciences news and jobs website.
The company declined to say how many of the facility’s employees, if any, might be transferred to the North Carolina site, or whether any new jobs or plant expansions will be needed in Sanford.
In a statement to the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, a company spokesperson said that Astellas Gene Therapies was constantly prioritizing resources and streamlining operations.
“The consolidation of our operations is a planned step aimed at further improvements in our manufacturing capabilities,” the statement said. “We are confident this move will allow us to enhance efficiency and better serve our patients and partners’ needs.”
Astellas Gene Therapies, based in San Francisco, was formed in 2021, when Astellas Pharma integrated its subsidiary, Audentes Therapeutics, and renamed it.
Astellas Gene Therapies invested $100 million in the Sanford facility with the promise of creating more than 200 jobs through 2026. At the time of the plant’s opening two years ago, the average annual salary at the site was projected to be $83,900, more than twice Lee County’s then-current average wage.
If the company meets its hiring milestones, it will qualify for a state Job Development Investment Grant worth up to $3.7 million. Lee County and the City of Sanford also offered up to $5.7 million in incentives, and the package included nearly $400,000 in training support from the North Carolina Community College System.
Astellas Gene Therapies aims to become a global leader in genetic medicines using adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) to introduce corrective genes into cells that have faulty or missing genes.
The decision to close the California biomanufacturing facility “does not diminish our ongoing commitment to innovation, our broad pipeline of AAV programs or our relentless pursuit of better health for patients,” the company’s statement added.
The company targets serious rare genetic diseases – particularly neuromuscular disorders – that affect young children. The disorders include Pompe disease, Friedreich ataxia, myotonic dystrophy type 1 and X-linked myotubular myopathy.
The company’s goal is to deliver transformative therapies for patients who have few or no effective treatment options.