AGC Biologics buys Boulder AstraZeneca plant 

BOULDER — After sitting idle for nearly a year, a new tenant is set to take over the shuttered AstraZeneca PLC plant in Boulder.

AstraZeneca inked a deal in late 2019 to sell the pharmaceutical plant to Japanese contract drug maker AGC Biologics. That deal was completed in late May and the parties recorded a joint tenancy warranty deed with Boulder County last week worth nearly $40 million.

The facility is expected to begin full-scale operations and manufacturing by April 2021, according to an AGC news release.

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 “The addition of this facility supports AGC Biologics’ company-wide expansion initiative, which demonstrates our dedication to support our customers’ demand for mammalian projects, now and into the future,” AGC Biologics CEO Patricio Massera said in a prepared statement. “This facility will enable us to continue to advance the development, manufacturing and commercial functions within our dynamic global company.”

In February, the Colorado Economic Development Commission approved a series of tax incentives to help an unnamed company take over the vacant AstraZeneca plant in Boulder. At the time, BizWest speculated that the unnamed firm was likely AGC Biologics. AstraZeneca confirmed those suspicions a month later in its annual report. 

The state approved $6,404,990 in performance-based job growth incentive tax credits over an eight-year period and $75,000 in performance-based strategic fund cash incentives over a five-year period. In return, AGC pledged to create 280 new jobs that pay an average annual wage of $96,253. 

Overall, the firm has indicated its local investment would total about $100 million.

The 2019 closure of AstraZeneca’s plants in Boulder and in Longmont at 4000 Nelson Road resulted in the loss of more than 200 jobs. 

AstraZeneca took over the Boulder County facilities from pharmaceutical maker Amgen in 2015 and 2016. The Longmont facility was bought last year by Swiss biologics firm AveXis, a Novartis company. Avexis will make Zolgensma, a one-time therapy for young children with spinal muscular atrophy, at that plant.