Rockville, Maryland-based Vigene Biosciences, a company with manufacturing development projects that include a potential nasal spray COVID-19 vaccine, will expand and add 245 new employees to its current workforce of 125 by the end of 2025.
Vigene moved to its new headquarters at 5 Research Court in Rockville last year. It will now lease 52,000 square feet of additional manufacturing space at 14200 Shady Grove Road, bringing its total lab and manufacturing space to 110,000 square feet.
Vigene will receive a $1.23 million conditional loan, contingent on job creation and investment, from the Maryland Department of Commerce, as well as a $100,000 Partnership for Workforce Quality training grant from the state. The company also is eligible for several tax credits.
In addition, Montgomery County has approved a $125,000 Economic Development Fund grant, contingent on jobs and investment.
Vigene, founded in 2012, recently announced a collaboration with Gaithersburg, Maryland-based Altimmune to manufacture its single-dose intranasal vaccine candidate for COVID-19.
It has more than 4,000 customers worldwide. The company develops and manufactures adeno-associated viruses, antivirus, retrovirus, adenovirus and plasmid viral vectors for gene therapy delivery. Its customers include biotech companies, government agencies, nonprofits and research schools.
“This new facility will allow us to support our customers as they move beyond clinical development into commercial scale manufacturing,” said Vigene Biosciences CEO Zairen Sun.