WuXi Biologics to anchor Worcester biotech park

PHOTO/GRANT WELKER WBDC has filed an application to tear down the Bryan Building in the Worcester Biomanufacturing Park to make way for WuXi Biologics.

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By Zachary Comeau

A Chinese biotech company will build a $60-million facility at the Worcester Biomanufacturing Park, becoming the first tenant at the site of the former Worcester State Hospital, which the Worcester Business Development Corp. is attempting to turn into a major biotechnology hub.

WuXi Biologics announced the new facility on June 10, which brings approximately 150 new jobs. The facility is the firm's 11th drug manufacturing plant and first in the U.S..

The plant, dubbed the “Facility of the Future,” will be built using the company's single-use bioreactors and will be designed to run continuous bioprocessing – technology to be used in America for the first time, WuXi said.

The company is poised to receive up to $21 million in public money for the project, including grants, tax credits, rent abatements, exemptions and loans from city and state sources, including Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and MassDevelopment.

LakePharma, a California biologics company with a presence in Worcester, was once thought to be the anchor tenant in the Biomanufacturing Park but instead purchased a 69,000-square-foot Hopkinton facility last December.

A biopharmaceutical leader

The WuXi announcement comes on the heels of the 2018 BIO International Convention, a global conference of biotech and pharma leaders, which was held in Boston in June.

WuXi brings a global biomanufacturing expertise to help enhance the state's biopharma companies develop therapies more efficiently, said Travis McCready, president and CEO of MLSC.

The company, which toured Worcester before committing to the site, looks to move quickly to join the state's growing biopharmaceutical industry. The site is expected to play a key role in the company's global network, Chairman Ge Li said.

“Metropolitan Boston is acknowledged as a leader in the biopharmaceutical industry,” Li said. “The new site plays a key role in WuXi Biologics' global bio-manufacturing network to ensure that biologics are manufactured at the highest quality.”

Many of the company's partners are located within two hours of the new site, according to CEO Chris Chen.

“We are all very excited to initiate our first U.S. site to enable local companies and expedite biologics development,” Chen said.

Kevin O'Sullivan, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Biotech Initiatives incubator, said the city is quickly becoming a biotech destination.

WuXi Biologics had been eyeing Worcester for more than a year, O'Sullivan said.

“Landing them was a major mark not just for Worcester but establishing the biomanufacturing park as a leader in the industry,” he said. “WuXi coming was not by mistake, but it was because we've worked hard on this.”