by Vivian Jones
Nashville-based biotech firm August Bioservices will invest $64 million to expand its headquarters, creating 180 new jobs in Davidson County over the next five years, the company and state officials announced Wednesday morning.
August Bioservices provides drug discovery, development and manufacturing services. The expansion will add technology to its existing facility to support new drug manufacturing capabilities and also construct a state-of-the-art new facility adjacent to its existing headquarters capable of commercial scale drug manufacturing.
“We have all seen the hope that’s coming from those involved in the pharmaceutical industry,” Gov. Bill Lee said at the announcement event. “Contract manufacturers like this play a very important role in the future not only of this pandemic but of the country, and that’s why it’s exciting that Tennessee is right in the center of it today with this announcement.”
A spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development confirmed August Bioservices will receive an economic incentive grant from the state, but details of the incentive are being finalized. The spokesperson declined to share any details of the incentive with The Center Square.
August Bioservices’ expansion grows Nashville’s ecosystem of health care innovation, health services and accounting.
“There is no city in America that touches more people in health services than Middle Tennessee in Nashville, Tennessee – hands down,” former U.S. Sen. Bill Frist said at the announcement event.
Frist noted Nashville has become the “Silicon Valley of health services,” growing in his lifetime into a $94 billion industry.
“We provide a wide array of services here at this facility that help pharma and biotech companies of all sizes navigate and advance their novel ideas along a very complex drug development process,” August Biservices CEO Jenn Adams said.
August Bioservices expects the first phase of expansion to be complete by late 2021.
“It’s encouraging to see August Bioservices adding almost 200 new jobs to Nashville’s growing biotechnology sector,” state Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, said in a statement. “This announcement reinforces our reputation as a city with a top-notch workforce and a commitment to fostering investment in emerging technologies.”
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Vivian Jones reports on Tennessee and South Carolina for The Center Square. Her writing has appeared in the Detroit News, The Hill, and publications of The Heartland Institute.
