Greater Cincinnati startup Enable Injections has finalized plans for a new multimillion-dollar manufacturing facility, a move that comes amid a planned major hiring spree that will see the company more than double its headcount in the region.
Enable, which has developed a drug delivery device called the EnFuse, will move into a newly built, 90,000-square-foot manufacturing center in Springdale, located 1110 Strategic Parkway in the Springdale Commerce Park. The company will also enhance its current headquarters in Evendale. That facility is located on East Sharon Road, across from the Ford Motor Co.’s Sharonville plant.
Enable Injections Chairman and CEO Mike Hooven said the new facility will support the company’s ongoing in-house manufacturing efforts. He’s called the EnFuse “one of the biggest disruptions” he’s ever seen in health care (before Enable, Hooven served as CEO of AtriCure, a publicly traded Mason-based medical device maker he launched that specializes in treating atrial fibrillation).
The device is a first-of-its-kind hands-free, palm-sized wearable disk that allows patients to self-administer large-volume medications subcutaneously (through the skin) without an IV or syringe pump, meaning a patient can complete treatment at home versus at a clinic.
“This new facility allows Enable to significantly expand and enhance production processes and ultimately reduce the time it takes to bring our EnFuse system to patients and the medical community," Hooven said in a news release. "We are proud to have grown our business in Ohio over the last decade and are thankful for the continued support from the state and local organizations as we expand our business operations and footprint."
Enable finalized the new facility decision after a more than yearlong search.
Hooven, in an interview with Cincy Inno in late 2022, said Enable wanted to build from scratch a new state-of-the-art, 150,000-square-foot headquarters as it looked to significantly boost its manufacturing and hiring efforts.
In keeping its Evendale HQ – and by adding a new space in Springdale – Enable gets close to that square footage goal (its Evendale location is 40,000 square feet). Tim Flaherty, Enable’s CFO, told me the company also is maintaining all the other growth metrics it disclosed that same year when it landed a slew of state and local incentives to add new jobs.
The company has already invested upward of $60 million in Evendale to support its manufacturing efforts there, and there’s a lengthy timeline involved in standing up a new facility. The company’s pharmaceutical partners also want to see redundancy in its operations, he said.
Enable will keep some small-volume manufacturing on site in Evendale and can add lines at that facility if issues should ever arise at another location.
“It was not an ask (from the pharmaceutical companies). It was a requirement of theirs,” Flaherty said. “When you get to a certain volume, it just puts them at risk if all the devices are coming out of one facility. This (plan) makes sense, and it keeps the business in Ohio. In addition, the local municipalities really stepped up to give us additional incentives.”
Dr. Hugh McKinnon, chair of Evendale’s Community Improvement Corp., told city council members Feb. 13 the village was prepared to offer Enable a large lot within its AeroHub Innovation District, located adjacent to GE Aeropsace, to keep Enable Injections in the community. “They kept things very close to the vest,” McKinnon said.
Evendale agreed to a $1 million loan agreement for the company to maintain the East Sharon Road site. Springdale offered another $3 million. Those loans are forgivable over time, Flaherty said, based on certain payroll numbers.
Overall, between the new location and the Evendale headquarters, Enable expects to retain and add more than 450 jobs over the next 10 years in the Cincinnati area – more than doubling its current headcount of 200.
That’s not including its current 7,000-square-foot research and innovation center in West Chester Township. Flaherty said 20 or so employees would also be based at that location.
“The village of Evendale is extremely proud to provide financial support for renovations to the headquarters of Enable Injections,” Evendale Mayor Richard Finan said in a statement provided to Cincy Inno. “This company has already been a major provider of employment in the village. This agreement to remain in Evendale for 10 years provides stability to the community and for the company.”
The state of Ohio, JobsOhio and REDI Cincinnati also have provided support for Enable's expansion in recent months. Enable plans to add nearly $19.9 million in new payroll by calendar year 2027. That equates to an average annual salary of nearly $77,300.
The company also is committed to retaining a payroll of $20.4 million, or an average salary of more than $105,600.
The state and REDI incentives, coupled with the funds kicked in by the local municipalities, total more than $9 million.
Investment in Springdale site to top $120M in build out, equipment costs
Flaherty said the Springdale facility is a shell space. Enable will invest between $18 million and $20 million to build out that site over the next few years, adding clean rooms and more. It will invest an additional $104 million in equipment and machinery.
Enable expects to move in by the end of 2024.
As it ramps up hiring efforts, Flaherty said the Springdale manufacturing center should employ around 240 to 250. By comparison, about 200 people will be based in Evendale. As the company tracks toward an initial public offering, or IPO, it needs to add roles in regulatory, finance, marketing and business development.
The two sites are roughly 8 miles apart. Flaherty said Springdale is an ideal location, close to the expressway. The city was also "very aggressive" with incentives, he said.
Enable had considered sites in Blue Ash, Mason and West Chester, among other communities.
“Their decision to invest here is a testament to our collaborative efforts and Springdale’s competitive business climate and location,” Springdale’s Mayor Lawrence Hawkins III said. “Production of (Enable’s) wearable drug delivery systems will not only create high-tech, high-value jobs in our city but also positively impact patient experiences worldwide. We eagerly anticipate a continued partnership with Enable Injections as they grow within our community and provide enhanced opportunities for our residents.”
Enable will not physically add to its Evendale location but will renovate the facility internally.
Flaherty told me 2023 was Enable’s biggest year ever. The company in October received its first U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, a major milestone. The EnFuse must be used in combination with a drug therapy, and the FDA OK’d the device for the delivery of Empaveli, or pegcetacoplan, a drug being commercialized in the states by Waltham, Mass.-based Apellis Pharmaceuticals. Empaveli is for use in adults with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), a rare blood disease.
FDA approvals will continue to stack up and 2025 and beyond, Flaherty said.
Hooven has not disclosed the company’s valuation, but Enable is already one of the region’s rare unicorns, a title reserved for startups worth $1 billion or more.
The company, which ranks as the region's best-funded startup, according to Business Courier research, has raised more than $311 million in venture funding, including a $215 million Series C from January 2022 – a record-high raise for the region.
In March 2022, Enable was also named in a $330 million collaboration between mega drugmaker Sanofi and global investment group Blackstone Life Sciences – that backing puts its total related funding well past the $700 million mark.
