10X Genomics Prepares to Hire 200 New Employees, Move into Larger Facility

_{Pleasanton, CA. Uladzik Kryhin / Shutterstock.com}

Bay Area-based genomics company 10X Genomics has become one of the fastest growing privately-held companies in the region with an earnings increase of more than 2,000 percent over a three-year period.

As a result of that growth, the company has optioned space in its town of Pleasanton, Calif., a town about 25 miles east of Oakland that will allow for significant growth. The new facility will provide more than three times the space of its current facility, the San Francisco Business Times reported this morning. 10X will move its operations from a 40,000-square-foot facility to one that has more than 150,000 square feet of space. The company intends to relocate its operations in the early part of 2019, the Times reported.

With the new space and the significant financial growth, 10X Genomics will go on a hiring spree to add up to 200 new employees over the next few months, the Business Times said. 10X Chief Executive Officer Serge Saxonov told the Business Times that the company keeps expanding and its culture needs to “keep evolving.”

As BioSpace reported earlier this fall and the Business Times noted in its article today, suburban communities surrounding popular biotech hubs have become popular destinations for companies that want their real estate dollars to have a greater impact. Saxonov told BioSpace earlier this year that Pleasanton was an ideal choice for 10X Genomics to set up shop.

“Pleasanton is the sweet spot where you get the talent from all across the Bay Area and rents aren’t quite as expensive as San Francisco or the Peninsula,” Saxonov said in September.

The new space in Pleasanton will allow the company to end-to-end. In addition to the Pleasanton space, 10X has a manufacturing plant in Germany, which it will keep. With expanded manufacturing capabilities in California though, company executives can be more hands-on. Additionally, the East Bay Area facility gives the company access to the region’s workforce, which has the necessary specialized backgrounds in chemistry, biology, hardware and software, BioSpace reported in September.

Pleasanton, Calif. is part of an area known as the Tri-Valley and includes the communities of Dublin, Danville, Livermore and San Ramon. The cost of commercial real estate in the Tri-Valley area is about $32 per square foot, as BioSpace previously noted. In comparison, office space in San Francisco costs approximately $74 per square foot and Silicon Valley has a price tag of about $52 per square foot.

Dynavax isn’t the only company taking advantage of the less expensive real estate. Other companies located in the area include Unchained Labs and Gritstone Oncology.