The site is expected to create approximately 200 jobs over the next two and a half years. The Research Triangle area project confirms North Carolina’s growing role in gene therapy, a promising approach for fighting a host of challenging genetic diseases.
Taysha Gene Therapies, headquartered in Dallas, is developing an extensive portfolio of gene therapies and expects to file as many as four Investigational New Drug (IND) applications for its product candidates next year.
In Durham, the company plans to invest $75 million in capital expenditures over a period of two and a half years to build out and operate an approximately 187,000 square foot, commercial-scale manufacturing facility for preclinical, clinical, and commercial production of its gene therapy product candidates.
The site will be developed to meet the rigorous FDA benchmark of a current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) facility.
Taysha’s expansion in North Carolina will be facilitated, in part, by a job Development Investment Grant (JDIG) approved by the state’s Economic Investment Committee.
Over the course of the 12-year term of this grant, the project is estimated to grow the state’s economy by $772 million. The project will bring an annual payroll impact in excess of $22 million for the region once GMP production begins.
The JDIG agreement authorizes the potential reimbursement to the company of up to $4.8 million, dependent upon meeting hiring and capital expenditure milestones. In addition, Taysha will receive a training grant of over $360,000 over a two- to three-year period.
State payments only occur following performance verification by the departments of Commerce and Revenue that the company has met its incremental job creation and investment targets. JDIG projects result in positive net tax revenue to the state treasury, even after taking into consideration the grant’s reimbursement payments to a given company.
Taysha Gene Therapies’ JDIG agreement also could move as much as $1,626,750 into the state’s Industrial Development Fund – Utility Account for use by rural communities elsewhere in the state. The Utility Account helps finance necessary infrastructure upgrades in more economically challenged areas of the state to attract future business. ■