AveXis, a Novartis company, announced that it is opening a facility in Longmont, Colorado that will produce Zolgensma, the world’s most expensive drug.
The company purchased the 70-acre, six-building site from AstraZeneca just nine months ago and now plans to launch operations this month. Once it is at full capacity, the site will employ up to 400 people, including about 150 former AstraZenenca employees from the facility. AveXis says that its opening of the plant, along with its other facility in North Carolina, makes it the largest gene therapy manufacturer in the world.
In addition to producing Zolgensma, a $2.1 million gene therapy designed to treat spinal muscular atrophy, AveXis says it hopes to use the site for other gene therapies in its pipeline including treatments for Rett syndrome, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Friedreich’s ataxia, which could all be brought to market within the next five years.
AveXis, which developed Zolgensma, was acquired by Novartis in an $8.7 billion deal in 2018.
