Seattle pharma company eyes Boulder Valley for expansion

LOUISVILLE — Umoja Biopharma Inc., a Seattle-based developer of cancer therapies, could be expanding to the east as the company targets new manufacturing space in the Boulder Valley.

An application submitted to Louisville for a tax and fee rebate package suggests that Umoja is eyeing industrial sites in the Colorado Technology Center, as well as alternatives in Longmont, Broomfield and Westminster. 

The company could take over about 150,000 square feet at 725 Tech Court in the CTC, according to a Louisville city memo.

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A decision about a lease on that site is expected by August, with a goal of completing the first phase of tenant improvements by next May. 

Umoja, representatives of which did not respond to requests for comment Monday, could have as many as 100 employees earning an average of about $160,000 per year over the next five years, the business assistance package application said. 

Louisville city staffers are recommending a 50% rebate on building-permit fees and construction-use taxes, and a 40% rebate of consumer-use tax over a five-year period. Those rebates are expected to total $1,325,717.

The Umoja manufacturing facility could result in significant investment at the CTC. The company expects to complete more than $44 million in tenant improvements at the site and equipment and capital expenditures could top $70 million over five years, according to city documents. 

Outside of Louisville, Umoja is considering manufacturing space at the former Maxtor campus in Longmont (a business park now being marketed as The Max), the Baseline development in Broomfield and Park 12 Hundred Tech Center in Westminster.

Umoja, founded in 2019, is developing therapeutic technologies “to reprogram immune cells in vivo to create next-generation immunotherapies for the treatment of solid tumors and hematologic malignancies,” according to a company news release.

In June, the company closed on a $210 million Series B fundraising round led by the Japanese investment giant SoftBank Group Corp.

The funding will help the company move “into clinical development, and build internal manufacturing capabilities to support preclinical and clinical development of its pipeline programs,” the release said.

Additionally, the Series B money will allow the company to add hires and facilities by “expanding its footprint to include a manufacturing operations site in Boulder,” the release said. Presumably, that’s a reference to the potential Louisville, Longmont, Broomfield or Westminster expansion.