BALTIMORE, MD (April 24, 2019) – Kite, a California-based biopharmaceutical company that develops innovative cancer immunotherapies, announced plans today to open a new biologics manufacturing facility in Frederick County that will produce innovative cell therapies for people with cancer. A Gilead company, Kite will open the new facility on a 20-acre site in Urbana with plans to create significant job opportunities.
“This new facility in Urbana builds on our substantial technical capabilities and rapid progress in making personalized chimeric antigen receptor T and T cell receptor cell therapies for people with cancer. As we advance our industry-leading cell therapy pipeline and seek to help a growing number of people with cancer, expanding and investing in our manufacturing capabilities is essential,” said Tim Moore, executive vice president of technical operations at Kite. “With the Urbana site, we will have the opportunity to build and design the facility tailored to our own innovative processes and with state-of-the-art features that will enable us to meet the future needs for cell therapies.”
With this new facility, Kite will significantly expand its ability to manufacture commercially available and investigational cell therapies. The new Frederick facility will become part of Kite’s growing commercial manufacturing network that includes sites in California and the Netherlands.
“We are excited to welcome Kite and all of the new life sciences jobs the company will bring to Maryland,” said Governor Larry Hogan. “Our highly-educated workforce, proximity to many federal agencies and labs, and critical mass of life sciences companies and resources makes our state the ideal place for Kite to continue its life-saving work developing transformative cancer treatments.”
“This is great news for Frederick County,” said Frederick County Executive Jan Gardner. “Our businesses on are on the leading edge of finding the cure for cancer. We’re excited to welcome Kite to our life science and biopharma family. We were pleased to fast-track their project in Frederick County and want them to know our support will continue into the future. Frederick County is a great place to do business.”
To assist with project costs, the Maryland Department of Commerce has approved a $2 million conditional loan through the Advantage Maryland Fund (formerly known as the Maryland Economic Development Assistance Authority and Fund) and a $200,000 workforce training grant through the Partnership for Workforce Quality (PWQ) program. Additionally, Frederick County is providing a Commercial and Industrial Tax Credit, which is offered to new and expanding businesses that focus on manufacturing, fabricating, and assembly. The company is also eligible for various state and local tax credits, including the Job Creation Tax Credit and the More Jobs for Marylanders Tax Credit, which incentivizes manufacturers to create new jobs in the state.
“Attracting a global company like Kite, which is at the forefront of advancing cell therapy, adds another world-class company to Maryland’s outstanding life sciences community,” said Maryland Commerce Secretary Kelly M. Schulz. “Together with our partners in Frederick County, we look forward to working with Kite to ensure they continue to grow and thrive here in our state.”
