With COVID-19 boosting the company's profile in a big way, Regeneron is returning to a long-running expansion with plans to inject some fresh cash into the project.
Regeneron has designs on a $480 million manufacturing upgrade at its home base in Tarrytown, New York, Westfair Online reports, citing company talks with Westchester County's Industrial Development Agency (IDA).
Way back in 2015, Regeneron drew up plans for a $150 million factory there. The company's star has risen dramatically over the past half-decade, and it's now planning to spend another $330 million for the upsized project, according to the publication.
"This is an expansion project that’s been under consideration for some time and the IDA discussion is really just another step," a Regeneron spokesperson said over email.
The company is still finalizing plans for the facility and securing needed approvals, so it couldn't provide a definitive timeline for the project.
"We fully expect that the Regeneron team in Tarrytown will continue to grow," the company's spokesperson added.
The investment will be used to stand up a two-story, 207,000-square-foot plant for preclinical manufacturing and process development, Westfair Online reports, citing IDA proceedings. Back in 2015, Regeneron said the upgrade would create at least 300 new jobs in the area, according to The Journal News.
RELATED: Regeneron eyes prevention nod for COVID-19 antibody cocktail with simpler injection
Regeneron today looks much different than it did in 2015, with much of the drugmaker's recent attention turned to COVID-19 fight. The company's antibody cocktail of casirivimab and imdevimab won an FDA emergency nod in November, becoming the second COVID-19 antibody therapy to win authorization after Eli Lilly's bamlanivimab.
Those antibody drugs have struggled to gain traction, thanks to narrow treatment windows and the need to be infused. Regeneron's cocktail ginned up $146 million in the fourth quarter of 2020, though sales could soon tick up. The company in January expanded its pact with the U.S. government to deliver up to 1.25 million doses of its antibody combo, building on the 300,000 it promised in July.
If Regeneron can deliver on all those doses, assuming adoption improves, the deal could reach $2.63 billion.