September 22, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Avadim Technologies is investing more than $25 million to expand its operations in Buncombe County, which will include the development of a new 100,000 square foot corporate headquarters and the creation of 551 new jobs.
Avadim, which is developing pathogenesis-based therapies for infection prevention, neuromuscular disorders and barrier repair, said it is expanding its presence in the North Carolina mountains to meet rapid growth and demand of its technology. The larger facility will allow Avadim to expand its product development, manufacturing, distribution and corporate headquarters operations, the company said Wednesday. New positions the company plans to onboard include sales and marketing personnel, customer service representatives and information technology specialists. Avadim currently employs 106. The expansion is expected to be completed by 2020. There was no information provided as to when the company will begin its hiring spree. Avadim’s website currently shows a listing for one position, a production line operator for its subsidiary, Relion Manufacturing, Inc.
As a lifelong resident of Buncombe County, it was important to me that the expansion of our business remain in the county. In addition to contributing to the health and well-being of individuals nationwide, by addressing the gaps in global health including infection, neuromuscular disorders and wound care, this expansion will also contribute to the growth of our economy by continuing to cultivate a vibrant life sciences sector that will spur jobs and further business growth in Western North Carolina,” Stephen Woody, Avadim’s chairman and chief executive officer said in a statement.
Avadim was founded in 2007. Its PBT platform works to optimize the stratum corneum, also impacting integumentary functions and the associated reactive tissue. The company’s product line includes Theraworx and Combat One.
“Our platform of therapies works to protect and support natural key physiological functions of the skin and integumentary system, to super normalize it, supporting treatments within our three series of therapies for infection prevention, neuromuscular disorders and skin barrier repair,” according to the company’s website.
Avadim’s PBT platform are topical and have applications from sports medicine to hospital in-patient care to battlefield wound treatment and global public health.
The company’s expansion is supported, in part, through a state economic incentive grant worth up to $4.9 million. The company will receive the grant money provided it has met incremental job creation and investment goals. N.C. Commerce Secretary John Skvarla, said the company should not have trouble meeting its hiring goals.
“North Carolina’s superior talent, engaged universities and unbeatable business climate will support Avadim as it executes this significant expansion,” Skvarla said in a statement.
Avadim is not the only company expanding its presence in the Tar Heel State. Following its $652 million deal for 42 drug products from Teva Pharmaceuticals and Allergan , Australia-based Mayne Pharma has increased the scope of a planned expansion of a manufacturing facility in eastern North Carolina. In August, Mayne said it will commit an additional $15 million to the expansion of its manufacturing facility in Greenville, N.C. Last year, the company broke ground on what was a planned $65 million expansion that includes a 126,000 square-foot expansion to support space for use in large-scale oral and solid-dose manufacturing. The additional $15 million will introduce new capabilities to the facility, including multi-particulate layering and bead-coating fluid bed technology.
But while North Carolina is seeing some growth in its life sciences sector, a controversial bill that ended local anti-discrimination ordinances based on gender identity has caused some companies to pause expansions, or consider moving operations out of state.
