Engineered BioPharmaceuticals, Inc. will invest $6.1 million to expand its facilities in the City of Danville in Virginia. The company will expand from its current lab space in the Dan River Business Development Center into its first standalone manufacturing facility. Engineered BioPharmaceuticals, Inc. is a pharmaceutical engineering and manufacturing company dedicated to advancing cost-effective and state-of-the-art medicines.
“The company chose to expand in Virginia due to the Commonwealth’s overall business-friendly environment and its preeminent biotechnology presence,” said Engineered BioPharmaceuticals CEO Carl Sahi. “We also found Pittsylvania County and the City of Danville to be an ideal location because of their people, their economic development efforts, and their support and commitment to workforce development.”
The new facility will allow for Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) manufacturing of the company’s innovative oral pharmaceutical dosing platforms, designed to enhance patient compliance and therapeutic efficacy. Before choosing Virginia, the company also considered California, New York, and Texas for the project, which will create 34 new jobs.
“Thanks to innovators like Engineered BioPharmaceuticals, our Commonwealth is advancing as a hub for cutting-edge technology and research in the life sciences industry,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin. “The company’s start in a Virginia business incubator shines a spotlight on the importance of fostering an environment that supports startups and small businesses. I commend the region’s forward-thinking economic development leaders and partners and look forward to Engineered BioPharmaceuticals’ continued success in Danville.”
Established in 2011 in the Dan River Business Development Center, Engineered BioPharmaceuticals develops enhanced delivery and shelf-life stability technologies for pharmaceuticals, vaccines, nutraceuticals, food, and beverage products. The company has been dedicated to partnering with strategic partners and pharmaceutical clients to lower the cost of healthcare and make critical therapeutic drugs more accessible and user-friendly. In addition to developing technologies for customers, Engineered BioPharmaceuticals has also developed novel delivery enhancing technologies that the company can formulate into its own therapeutic products. Expansion into the new manufacturing facility will assist the company with the commercialization of these novel therapeutic products, including its first product, a plant-based, zero-calorie chewable gel (gummy). Once launched, this prescription pharmaceutical product will offer diabetic individuals an improved user-friendly oral therapeutic to help combat hyperglycemia, associated with early stages of diabetes.
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership worked with the City of Danville and Southern Virginia Regional Alliance to secure the project for Virginia. Gov. Youngkin approved a $150,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist Danville with the project. Engineered BioPharmaceuticals is eligible to receive state benefits from the Virginia Enterprise Zone Program, administered by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. Funding and services to support the company’s employee training activities will be provided through the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.
“The members of the Industrial Authority of Danville are thrilled that Engineered Biopharmaceuticals has selected Danville to expand its business and welcome them as they move into 1 Ecomnets Way,” said T. Neal Morris, Chairman of the Industrial Development Authority of Danville. “We congratulate them on their $6.1 million investment and the creation of 34 new jobs.”
