Gov. Greg Abbott today awarded a Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) grant to FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies Texas (FDBT) for a $300 million expansion at its location near the Texas A&M Health Science Center.
FDBT will add a 138,000 sq. ft. commercial manufacturing center to its existing facilities in the Brazos Valley Bio Corridor. The new investment will create 150 new, high-paying jobs in vaccine and gene-therapy production.
The project is a dividend from investments made a decade ago by The Texas A&M University System, the federal government and the State of Texas in something called the CIADM. (Its full name is the Texas A&M Center for Innovation in Advanced Development and Manufacturing.) The CIADM was created to initiate public-private partnerships that build U.S. bio-manufacturing capacity and make College Station a bio-tech development hub.
FDBT owns two facilities built through the CIADM and leases parts of a third facility connected with the program. Over the past seven years, FBDT has expanded its facilities significantly and become a major local employer.
The governor’s enterprise fund is for closing deals when Texas is competing against other states. Competition for the newest FDBT expansion had included North Carolina.
Go here for more about today’s announcement:
The CIADM works with other bi-tech companies that want to collaborate with Texas A&M researchers on bio-medical R&D.
