British drug giant AstraZeneca will invest $300 million in a new manufacturing facility in Rockville, Maryland, and create 150 new jobs.
The building, completed in 2020, was originally leased to British biotech Autolus Therapeutics, which canceled its lease in 2021, choosing to expand manufacturing in the U.K. instead.
The new AstraZeneca manufacturing facility will initially focus on T-cell therapies for clinical trials around the world. The site may expand to support other disease areas, the drugmaker said in a statement.
“This new investment will accelerate our ambition to make next-generation cell therapy a reality, ensuring that we are ready to scale and meet the demands of patients,” said Pam Cheng, executive vice president of global operations for AstraZeneca.
AstraZeneca already has a large presence in Montgomery County. Its scientific campus in Gaithersburg has about 3,500 employees, one-fifth of its global research and development centers.
The drug giant first came to Montgomery County when it acquired MedImmune, one of the county’s biotechnology pioneers, in 2007 for nearly $16 billion.
Last year, AstraZeneca leased the 84,000-square-foot space on 9950 Medical Center Drive, which was one of the largest leases in Montgomery County in 2023, according to commercial real estate firm Colliers.
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