By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper. — New Mexico’s strategy to move beyond a mostly oil and gas and national labs-driven economy got a big boost this week with the start of a $200 million expansion high-speed biotech vial filling line Thursday, part of an expansion by global pharmaceutical company Curia that is expected to add more than 250 local jobs.
State and local leaders — including Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Economic Development Secretary Rob Black and Mayor Tim Keller — joined Curia CEO Phil Macnabb for a ribbon-cutting at the company’s campus. New jobs created by the expansion will pay an average salary of more than $50,000, according to the state Economic Development Department.
“New Mexico has built a sophisticated bioscience industry that is helping strengthen our economy and advance the science that improves lives,” Lujan Grisham said. “Curia’s continued investment in Albuquerque means more good-paying jobs for New Mexicans and greater capacity to manufacture critical medicines right here in the United States.”
The state kicked in up to $5 million through the Local Economic Development Act job-creation fund. The new line adds sterile manufacturing capability — including biosafety level 2 containment and two lyophilizers — while a second Curia facility on Balloon Park Road picked up a flexible line for vials, syringes and cartridges.
“Our team in New Mexico plays an essential role in the complex manufacturing process for injectable vaccines and medicines,” Macnabb said. The company is most well known as the company behind allergy medication Allegra, but it is also a major manufacturer of vaccines and other medicines.