Biotech Giant Horizon Therapeutics Expanding in Montgomery County – Commercial Observer

Dublin-based Horizon Therapeutics is expanding in Montgomery County, Md., on the heels of last years acquisition of Gaithersburg, Md.-based Viela Bio, another biotech company.

Horizon Therapeutics has signed a long-term, 192,000-square-foot lease at Alexandria Center Traville Gateway, a planned 500,000-square-foot life sciences complex being developed by Alexandria Real Estate Equities on 18 acres in Rockville, Md.

The global life sciences company will occupy an entire building, which is the first one under construction at the complex and is scheduled to be ready sometime in 2023.

The opportunity to custom build a state-of-the-art facility that suits our current and future [research and development] and technical operations needs was attractive, Geoffrey M. Curtis, an executive vice president in corporate affairs at Horizon Therapeutics, told CO.

The company has operated out of approximately 32,000 square feet in two buildings at 1 MedImmune Way in Gaithersburg since its Viela Bio acquisition in March and will be relocating when the space is available.

The new space will serve as our East Coast R&D and technical operations hub and will allow for all employees and functions to be in one building, Curtis said.

The new facility will also allow Horizon Therapeutics to quadruple its current Maryland footprint and better drive its continued efforts to develop new medicines for patients with rare, autoimmune and severe inflammatory diseases, he noted.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan released a statement praising the news and championed the life sciences sector in the state.

It is a testament to our outstanding business climate and wealth of resources that we have seen so many life sciences companies expand and add thousands of new jobs in our state in recent years, he said.

Maryland is considered a top 4 cluster nationally by Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News annual ranking of the nations top 10 life sciences clusters, with Montgomery County responsible for a lot of the demand and growth.

Horizon Therapeutics was represented by CBRE in the transaction. The developers were represented in-house.

Requests for comment from the development team and CBRE were not immediately returned.

Keith Loria can be reached at Kloria@commercialobserver.com.

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Biotech Giant Horizon Therapeutics Expanding in Montgomery County - Commercial Observer