Veranova breaks ground on Devens expansion

DEVENS — U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan joined officials at Veranova’s Devens campus Wednesday for a groundbreaking ceremony on a planned expansion of the facility to add a new process development laboratory and two “Good Manufacturing Practice” suites.

The expansion was first announced last June, and is part of a $50 million investment that will add 9,000 square feet to the pharmaceutical company’s campus, and is expected to create around 70 new jobs.

With the expansion, the company aims to expand the Devens facility’s capabilities for “potent compounds, [antibody-drug conjugate] linker payloads, and other complex molecules critical to next generation therapeutics,” according to the company’s June 19 statement.

Veranova CEO Mike Riley pointed to the range of products and chemicals the company produces in the name of saving people’s lives.

“We tend to work on a lot of products that require complex processes, and might require special handling like high-potency products, and that leads us to support therapies, like many different types of cancer treatments are supported out of this building here in Devens,” said Riley.

“So this investment we are making today is not just to expand our business, it is really to expand our ability to make an impact on some of these very important diseases and therapeutic areas we treat at Veranova,” Riley later added.

Trahan said the expansion “will create good-paying jobs, boost economic growth, and bolster the domestic supply of active medical ingredients.”

“These therapies are complex, and so is the manufacturing. The fact that you can do development through commercialization right here in this one location gives us, the United States, a strategic advantage,” said Trahan. “COVID exposed the risks of relying on overseas supply chains. Facilities like this one make us stronger, more self-sufficient and better prepared for future public health emergencies.”

Trahan said she was committed to ensuring federal policy continues to support the work of companies like Veranova.

“Massachusetts has led the nation in life sciences because of companies like this one. Advancing not just science, but our national health security, our economic strength and our global competitiveness,” said Trahan.