BOULDER, COLO. — AGC Biologics has acquired a vacant, 300,000-square-foot pharmaceutical plant in Boulder from AstraZeneca. The Japan-based company plans to invest $100 million in the plant and create 280 jobs, according to multiple news outlets.
The facility will provide AGC with additional capacity and significantly larger production scale. AGC expects to move into the facility in April 2021, 18 months sooner than it would take to build a new facility, according to the company. In February, the Colorado Economic Development Commission approved a tax credit on the property worth up to $6.4 million.
AstraZeneca vacated the 20-acre property in January 2019, according to the Denver Post. The sales price was not disclosed, though the Boulder Daily Camera reports the property traded for $40 million. The Camera also reports jobs at the plant will pay an average of $96,253 per year.
“This facility will enable us to continue to advance the development, manufacturing and commercial functions within our dynamic global company,” says AGC Biologics CEO Patricio Massera. Although the specific drugs and research planned for the facility were not disclosed, Massera made reference to “mammalian projects,” suggesting that animal research will take place there.
The property is located at 5550 Airport Blvd., four miles northeast of downtown Boulder and 28 miles northwest of downtown Denver. International Process Plants (IPP) represented the buyer in the transaction.
— Alex Tostado