Genentech Announces Plans to Invest $700 Million in Holly Springs, Creating 420 Jobs

Genentech, a member of the Roche Group based in Switzerland has announced plans to invest $700 million in Holly Springs to establish a new high-volume fill/finish manufacturing facility.

"World-class companies like Genentech recognize that North Carolina is a leading state for biotechnology,” said Governor Josh Stein. “These companies know that our life science workforce is ready to help them deliver their cutting-edge medicines to the world. We are proud to welcome Genentech to North Carolina.”

In April, Genentech announced plans invest $50 billion in new state-of-the-art research and development sites, new and expanded manufacturing facilities in Indiana, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and California, plus an additional new site, now confirmed in Holly Springs, North Carolina.

"Genentech is the industry pioneer in high-volume biopharmaceutical manufacturing and we know what it takes to supply these complex medicines,” said Paul Bezy, Global Leader of Roche’s High Volume Technical Operations Portfolio. “We selected Holly Springs for the combination of proximity to talent, and high quality of life that supports attracting and retaining the right people.  As with the other communities that we call home in the US and abroad, we look forward to building a long-term and prosperous relationship with Holly Springs.”

With more than 100,000 employees across the globe, this announcement marks Genentech’s  first investment in North Carolina.  Genentech joins a well-established ecosystem with more than 600 life science operations in the Triangle region alone.

“Genentech is the original creator of the biotech industry – a true leader in this field,” said Wake County Board of Commissioners Chair Susan Evans. “Bringing this well-known and highly respected company to Wake County further elevates our position as the top hub for biotech research and manufacturing worldwide.”

This investment will have a tremendous impact on the local economy in Wake County. The project will support an estimated 4,578 direct, indirect and induced jobs, resulting in an anticipated economic impact of $1.2 billion.

In recent years, Holly Springs has emerged as a preferred location for the life science industry thanks to long-term strategic planning to position the Town as an ideal home for these companies. Global heavyweights including CSL Seqirus, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies and Amgen have already made significant investments in the community.

“Residents and small businesses in Holly Springs welcome the addition of Genentech to our growing family of life science businesses,” said Holly Springs Mayor Sean Mayefskie. “We are already seeing results from the economic development mission we’ve been pursuing, with everything from a thriving Main Street, to booming entrepreneurial growth, to a future strong commercial tax base that will allow the Town to keep our high level of service and add to our well-loved amenities.”

Genentech fill/finish facility represents a significant diversification of the existing life science industry in Holly Springs. Fill/finish facilities are specialized production sites in the final stages of the biomanufacturing process. At these sites, medical devices such as vials and syringes are “filled” with biopharmaceutical products, and “finished” with capping, labeling and packaging to prepare for distribution.

With an entire facility dedicated to fill/finish production comes an additional category of jobs to the market. With a proven history of partnering with academic institutions across the world, Genentech plans to leverage local workforce development programs to grow the talent pipeline of drug product manufacturing in North Carolina.

Numerous partners collaborated to make this project a reality. Partners on this project include:

• The Town of Holly Springs
• Wake County Economic Development, a program of the Greater Raleigh Chamber
• Capital Area Workforce Development Board
• Duke Energy
• The Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina
• Enbridge Gas North Carolina
• The North Carolina Biotechnology Center
• C. Commerce’s Division of Workforce Solutions
• The North Carolina Community College System
• The North Carolina General Assembly
• Wake County Board of Commissioners
• Wake Technical Community College