Germany’s Miltenyi Biotec is doubling down on Maryland.
The global biotechnology company, which makes products for cell and gene therapy research, is moving its North American headquarters to Gaithersburg, where it already has a presence, the Maryland Department of Commerce announced this week. Until now, that base was Auburn, California.
The plan involves expanding the company’s existing facility at 1201 Clopper Road for more manufacturing, quality assurance and research and development space — and adding 130 jobs by year’s end. That, according to the state, would bring its total Maryland headcount to 300 employees.
To do it, Miltenyi intends to use Maryland’s job creation incentives, including its More Jobs for Marylanders program and Job Creation Tax Credit, according to the state. The company currently has 44 openings in Gaithersburg listed on its website.
The company did not immediately respond to questions about its footprint, personnel, timeline and other details around the move. We will update this post as we hear back.
Miltenyi is no stranger to Montgomery County, already with a presence in Gaithersburg after acquiring gene therapy company Lentigen Technology Inc. in 2014 for an undisclosed amount. That company lives in a 5,000-square-foot manufacturing facility at 910 Clopper Road.
Then in 2017, Miltenyi acquired Living Pharma Inc., a personalized cell therapy startup out of the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
Miltenyi Biotec, founded in 1989, has a technology that separates cells for clinical trials and other lab research. The company, headquartered outside of Cologne in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany, counts about 4,000 employees in locations throughout Europe, Asia and Australia. Its other U.S. sites include Cambridge and Waltham in Massachusetts; and San Jose, Santa Barbara and San Diego in California.
The global company is deepening its roots in the county’s I-270 biotech corridor alongside other firms that have announced moves to the area in recent years. Among them: TCR² Therapeutics, On Demand Pharmaceuticals, Aurinia Pharmaceuticals, Nobelpharma, Autonomous Therapeutics, Genetron Health and Qiagen.
It also comes in a critical moment for the sector. The pandemic boosted funding and support for research, development and manufacturing, directly benefiting multiple resident companies working in and around Covid-19.
Novavax, which is working to get a coronavirus vaccine to the world and awaiting U.S. approval, is ballooning its Gaithersburg footprint with a new campus following a dramatic business transformation. Gaithersburg’s Viela Bio sold for $3.1 billion to Dublin’s Horizon Therapeutics, which is now expanding locally, and Rockville’s Vigene Biosciences sold for $292 million in June to Charles River Laboratories International. And a handful of local players have gone public, including Arcellx, NexImmune and Sensei Biotherapeutics. In 2020 alone, the county’s biotechs collected a total $8 billion in funding from government, private sector investors and foundations.
