Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Inc. recently held a groundbreaking ceremony in Verona, WI. The company will build an approximately 160,000-square-foot drug manufacturing facility and an approximately 125,000-square-foot laboratory and office facility to support process development and analytical activities on the site.
Arrowhead received awards for up to $16 million in tax increment financing from the city of Verona, and up to $2.5 million in refundable Wisconsin state income tax credits from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) as incentives to invest in the local community and create new jobs.
“We have had a productive and mutually beneficial relationship with the local biotech community and broader business community in the greater Madison, Wisconsin area for many years,” said Christopher Anzalone, Ph.D., Arrowhead’s president and CEO. “Arrowhead is excited to continue our partnership with Wisconsin and is thankful to the city of Verona for providing us with a $16 million tax increment financing award and the WEDC for providing us with $2.5 million in refundable tax credits. These incentives are a great example of public-private partnerships that support continued investment in activities that generate new jobs in the region.
“I also want to thank Lisa Johnson, President of BioForward, Verona mayor Luke Diaz, Secretary and Chief Executive Officer at WEDC Missy Hughes, and Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers for joining us to break ground on Arrowhead’s new manufacturing and lab facilities,” continued Anzalone. “These new facilities will help support the development, and ultimately the commercialization, of potentially important new medicines that leverage the natural RNAi pathway to target genes involved in various diseases.”
Construction project team members include Eppstein Uhen Architects (EUA), DPS Group, D’Onofrio Kottke & Associates, Smocke & Associates, and Vogel Bros. Building Co. Completion of the lab and office space is anticipated in 2023 and completion of the manufacturing facility is expected in 2024.
“In the last few years, Wisconsin has been recognized as a powerhouse not just for discovering the latest advances in biopharmaceutical research and development but in manufacturing and producing these lifesaving treatments as well,” said Governor Tony Evers. “That means that companies like Arrowhead can research new therapies for debilitating diseases, bring them to market, and manufacture them all right here in Wisconsin. To me, that’s pretty remarkable and worth investing in. So, I’m proud to celebrate our state’s investment of $2.5 million in Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals project to expand its presence here in Wisconsin and create good-paying jobs for Wisconsinites.”
Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals develops medicines that treat intractable diseases by silencing the genes that cause them. Using a broad portfolio of RNA chemistries and efficient modes of delivery, Arrowhead therapies trigger the RNA interference mechanism to induce rapid, deep, and durable knockdown of target genes. RNA interference (RNAi) is a mechanism present in living cells that inhibits the expression of a specific gene, thereby affecting the production of a specific protein.
“WEDC is pleased to partner with Arrowhead because they have the potential to transform health care – and all of our lives – through innovation, persistence, and collaboration,” said Missy Hughes, secretary and CEO of WEDC. “Arrowhead joins a growing list of biopharmaceutical companies that have chosen to locate in Wisconsin because of the strategic investments our state has made in worker education and training, infrastructure and strong communities in recent years.”
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