Gene-therapy company — probably AveXis — applies for $7.26M in state incentives

DENVER — A gene-therapy company that matches the description of AveXis, a Novartis company, has applied to the Colorado Economic Development Commission for $7.26 million in job-growth incentives. The application — Project Limestone — was first reported by the Denver Business Journal.

BizWest reported in April that AveXis would purchase the former AstraZeneca campus at 4000 Nelson Road in Longmont, just three months after AstraZeneca announced that it would close its facilities in Longmont and Boulder, eliminating 210 jobs.

AveXis paid $30 million for the six-building, 692,000-square-foot Longmont campus, down sharply from the $64.5 million that AstraZeneca had paid for the property in 2016.

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The Colorado Economic Development Commission Thursday voted unanimously to approve up to $7.26 million for “Project Limestone” if the company create 400 jobs over an eight-year period, according to the DBJ. The jobs would include microbiologists, quality-control engineers, warehouse personnel and others, with an average pay of $93,025.

The description of “Project Limestone” matches that of AveXis, including the fact that the company already had purchased a bioscience facility in the state.

AveXis had announced plans to offer positions to approximately 150 employees previously employed by AstraZeneca, with plans to announce “further expansion of new jobs in the near term.”

Andrew Knudten, senior vice president, global strategic operations for AveXis, told BizWest in April that the company was “looking forward to work with the state of Colorado and the economic development people to understand how we might continue to grow. I can’t get into the details about the eventual total headcount; we need to let the dust settle and have conversations with the state of Colorado.”