Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals wiil invest $220 million into expansion in Verona, Wisconsin that will create more than 230 high-paying jobs.
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Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals’ new Verona campus will consist of two buildings.
The first is an approximately 125,000-square-foot laboratory and office facility that will support process development and analytical activities. The second is an approximately 160,000-square-foot GMP drug manufacturing facility, which company leaders say will be critical to Arrowhead’s global operations.
The Verona campus will complement Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals’ existing 111,000-square-foot research and development facility on Madison’s west side. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals’ Madison facility currently supports 210 full-time employees, as well as partnerships with local educational institutions that provide opportunities for interns and trainees.
Based in Pasadena, California, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals is developing new medicines for intractable diseases by silencing the genes that cause them. It does this by tapping into a process called RNA interference, or RNAi. RNAi is a mechanism present in living cells that inhibits the expression of a specific gene, thereby affecting the production of a specific protein.
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals’ therapies trigger the RNAi mechanism in cells to reduce the amount of a target protein produced. Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals is conducting clinical trials all over the world to create potential medicines for cardiovascular, liver, lung, and muscle diseases, as well as for cancer.
The expansion project is expected to provide a major economic benefit both to the region and statewide. The city of Verona is also assisting the project with up to $16 million in tax incremental financing for site improvements.
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals has selected numerous Wisconsin companies to assist with execution of the project, including local architects, civil engineers, builders, as well as several Wisconsin subâ€contractors to complete items such as mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and process piping activities.
An economic analysis by WEDC indicates the project will directly and indirectly create nearly 1,700 jobs, yielding more than $6 million in state taxes during the term of the award. ■