- Afton Scientific has broken ground on a $200 million facility expansion in Albemarle County, Virginia, that will create at least 200 jobs.
- The project will increase the company’s production space eightfold, enabling a shift from medium- to large-scale sterile injectable manufacturing.
Afton Scientific has begun construction on a $200 million expansion of its facility in Albemarle County, Virginia. The project, supported by state leadership, is expected to create at least 200 jobs and increase the site’s footprint by eight times its current size.
Governor Glenn Youngkin and Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears attended the groundbreaking at the company’s Avon campus, emphasising the role of biopharmaceutical investment in Virginia’s economy. Youngkin described the project as “a big, big statement,” adding that Afton’s decision to expand in Virginia underscored its confidence in the state’s business environment.
“The expansion will enable the company to implement new technologies, broaden its disease treatment capabilities, and move from medium-scale to large-scale production. “You have to invest in your technology, and you have to invest in your people,” Thorpe noted. “If you don’t do that continuously, you will fall behind.”
CEO Thomas Thorpe
The company plans to promote existing employees into higher-level positions while hiring additional staff from the local community. Thorpe highlighted Afton’s role in the drug manufacturing chain, stating: “It all filters into us, and we put it into a vial, we put it into a syringe, label it, and give it to the patient. End to end, right here in the state of Virginia.”
The development follows recent life sciences investments in the state, including those by Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca, and positions Afton Scientific to strengthen its role in the U.S. biopharmaceutical manufacturing sector.
