Anchored by institutions like NIH, FDA, and Johns Hopkins University, it’s no surprise that the Maryland area is consistently recognized among the leading U.S. bio clusters. With some of the industry’s most notable companies opening or expanding in Maryland over the past year, momentum continues to grow for the region as a leading bio hub. Here are three ways the Maryland biohealth industry is booming in 2019.

Industry giants are moving here

Autolus, a U.K company, recently announced that it was opening a new U.S. T-cell commercialization therapy facility in Rockville, bringing 170 jobs. In April, Kite Pharma, a California-based biopharmaceutical company announced plans to open a new biologics manufacturing facility in Frederick County. Kite, a Gilead company, will produce innovative cell therapies for people with cancer in its new facility, bringing hundreds of jobs with it.

Our bio businesses are expanding

Established bio companies are continuing to grow here, making major investments in new facilities. In the past few months, several companies unveiled major expansion plans or cut the ribbon on new facilities. Amid a $50 million dollar expansion, Emergent BioSolutions announced it is adding 100 employees to its Baltimore facility. Late last year, REGENEXBIO announced it will relocate to a larger headquarters and research facility in Rockville, doubling its workforce. In April, Vigene announced growth capital financing that will support its expansion into a new Rockville facility, and Paragon Bioservicescut the ribbon on a new gene therapy biomanufacturing facility near BWI Airport.

Big acquisitions and partnerships

Speaking of Paragon Bioservices, days after the company opened its new facility, it announced that it was being acquired by Catalent, a massive global company, for $1.2 billion. The acquisition is slated to be one of the region’s largest deals in the past decade. Other local biohealth companies, along with local investors, will benefit from the acquisition, Technical.ly reports. Around the same time as the Paragon Bioservices acquisition, Osiris Therapeutics also announced it was acquired by Smith Nephew, a global medical technology business, for $660 million. In other deals, Viela Bio, a Maryland-based AstraZeneca spinout, entered a $220 million development deal with China’s Hansoh to develop and market the Viela’s autoimmune drug inebilizumab in China.

Learn more about biohealth and life sciences in Maryland.