U.K. Biopharmaceutical Company Coming to Rockville

Autolus, a biopharmaceutical company based in London, plans to open U.S. headquarters in Rockville adding 170 jobs to Montgomery County by 2021, Gov. Larry Hogan’s office announced.

The company focuses on discovering and developing treatments for cancer. A leader in T-cell programming and manufacturing technology, the company will also have research and development and manufacturing operations in Rockville.

Autolus will host its operations at its new 85,000-square-foot Rockville facility on Medical Center Drive in the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center. Commercial real estate company JLL represented the company, which signed a long-term, full-building lease with Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. for the construction and development of the facility.

The new Autolus site will serve as the company’s first full commercial-scale manufacturing center, with a planned capacity to produce 5,000 T cell therapies annually.

Autolus was founded in 2014 as a spin out from University College London. Over the past four years, the company has continued to develop its pipeline of autologous blood cancer and solid tumor T cell programs.

To assist with project costs, the Maryland Department of Commerce has approved a $525,000 conditional loan through the Advantage Maryland Fund (formerly known as the Maryland Economic Development Assistance Authority and Fund).

Additionally, Montgomery County is providing a $200,000 conditional loan to help complete the project. The company is also eligible for various state and local tax credits, including the Job Creation Tax Credit and the More Jobs for Marylanders Tax Credit, which incentivizes manufacturers to create new jobs in the state.

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