REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—Adverum Biotechnologies, a clinical-stage gene therapy company targeting unmet medical needs in ocular and rare diseases, last week announced plans for a new Good Manufacturing Practices facility in Durham, N.C. Adverum will invest over $80 million in the 174,000-square-foot facility, located in Research Triangle Park (RTP). The site will include four 1,000-liter bioreactors, with space for future expansion and will create more than 200 jobs, Adverum said in a statement. “We are building a team with exceptional AAV-gene therapy experience and we are thrilled to join the highly-skilled and diverse North Carolina biotech community,” said Laurent Fischer, M.D., chief executive officer at Adverum Biotechnologies.

“This state-of-the-art facility will support our commercialization of ADVM-022, the potential first mass marketed gene therapy for wet AMD and DME.”

Angela Thedinga, chief technology officer at Adverum, commented, “Our new in-house commercial manufacturing facility sets the foundation of our overall manufacturing strategy. Our new site will provide dedicated commercial supply, while we continue to leverage CMO partnerships for flexible clinical and additional commercial supply. This multi-source strategy capitalizes on our internal AAV manufacturing expertise while providing both security and flexibility as we prepare to deliver one of the first gene therapies for large indications.”

Adverum will be receiving up to $9 million in state and local incentives as it expands into North Carolina, including a Job Development Investment Grant (JDIG), which will provide up to $3 million in funding over 12 years and was approved by the state’s Economic Investment Committee today. Additionally, Adverum will receive a training grant of over $400,000 and an estimated $6 million from local and other incentives.

“Our state’s dynamic workforce continues to propel life-changing innovation and keeps North Carolina at the forefront of biomanufacturing through life sciences companies like Adverum,” said Governor Roy Cooper.