Drugmaker Amgen pledges $1 billion, 370 new jobs to expand incoming Holly Springs plant
The drug manufacturer Amgen announced Thursday it will invest another $1 billion and add 370 jobs to its future facility in Holly Springs. This commitment comes three years after the California-based company first unveiled plans to open a drug substance production site in Southern Wake County.
With its new expansion, Amgen promises to hire 720 employees at its local plant and invest around $1.5 billion. The company plans to open the site in 2025 and complete its 370-worker expansion between 2028 and 2032.
Amgen adds to Holly Spring’s status as an emerging biotech hot spot, joining other manufacturers CSL Seqirus and FujiFilm Diosynth. Like Amgen, FujiFilm this year announced a significant expansion to its own incoming Wake County site.
Attracting biotech employers to the town of 46,000 has been intentional, said Holly Springs council member Tim Forrest.
“What happened almost 20 years ago, the town council and Mayor Dick Sears at the time said we want to become a life science, bioscience hub. How do we get there?” Forrest said. “So they started gearing infrastructure changes to the land development, water, sewer, all that for pending growth but also for how to recruit major businesses.”
Amgen was founded in 1980 and today employs more than 27,000 workers globally. It markets 36 medications on its website, including treatments for kidney disease, blood conditions and immune disorders.
“This expansion reflects Amgen’s ongoing commitment to innovation and the people who make it possible,” company CEO Robert Bradway said in a statement Thursday. “North Carolina has been a strong partner, offering the skilled workforce and forward-looking business climate we need to bring vital medicines to patients around the world.”
To incentivize Amgen’s expansion, North Carolina awarded the company a $4.9 million job development investment grant, which will be paid out over 12 years if the company reaches its hiring and development targets.
Amgen pledged to pay an average salary of $91,527 for its new batch of 370 jobs. This is higher than the Wake County average wage of $74,866 but below the average salary of $119,510 that Amgen committed to pay in 2021 for its initial 350 jobs in Holly Springs, which included leadership roles.
On Thursday, local leaders joined company officials at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center in Research Triangle Park to celebrate Amgen’s expansion in Holly Springs, a town that has doubled in population over the past 15 years.
“For the longest, all you heard is Research Triangle, Research Triangle. Which is not a bad thing,” said Wake County Commissioner Don Mial. “But it adds a new dimension to the county. We’re not just one dimensional. We’re growing and bringing more industry into the whole county.”
This story was originally published December 5, 2024 at 10:22 AM with the headline "Drugmaker Amgen pledges $1 billion, 370 new jobs to expand incoming Holly Springs plant."
