Approximately 100 of Moderna's current 460 workers will move from the company's three existing locations in Cambridge to the Norwood facility. Moderna also plans to hire more than 100 new employees for the Norwood plant.

The Newmark Grubb Knight Frank leasing team of Mike Frisoli, Taryn Wilson and Matt Morgan serve as exclusive leasing agents for the property. Moderna was represented by JLL managing directors Peter Bekarian and Tom Kent and EVP Don Domoretsky.

“This is a major, market moving lease transaction for the 128 South market,” says Frisoli, an executive managing director at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. “Campanelli went ahead and began the project on a speculative basis at Upland, which helped generate a lot of activity leading to this major lease transaction.”

A Moderna spokesperson tells Globest.com that the company evaluated a number of sites before deciding the Norwood site, was “a best match” for the biotech firm.

Stephen Murphy, partner and principal of acquisitions for Campanelli, says that the Town of Norwood has welcomed Moderna and designated 100 Tech Drive as an Economic Opportunity Area. The company says it is looking to secure Tax Incremental Financing for the building redevelopment project.

NORWOOD, MA—Moderna Therapeutics, headquartered in Cambridge, MA, is planning to spend $110 million on the build-out and retrofit of an existing 200,000-square-foot building here into a new manufacturing facility.

Campanelli and private equity firm TriGate Capital of Dallas reports that Moderna signed a 15-year lease for the entire building at One Upland Road (100 Tech Drive). The firm plans to build-out a state-of-the-art Good Manufacturing Practices clinical manufacturing facility. The company says initial build-out of the new facility is scheduled to begin in October and the company expects to open the facility by early 2018

Moderna is a clinical stage biotechnology company that is pioneering messenger RNA therapeutics to create a new generation of transformative medicines. The new plant will enable the to company manufacture, quality, control and supply clinical grade messenger RNA therapies and vaccines for toxicology studies as well as Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical studies. At the site, Moderna will carry out all manufacturing activities—from raw material production to active pharmaceutical ingredients formulation, filling and finish, company officials say.

Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, terms the development of its new manufacturing facility as a “critical component” of its early development engine for its various messenger RNA programs. “With our development pipeline expanding, we need to scale up from our current Cambridge-based GMP clinical supply manufacturing facility. Our Norwood facility will enable us to deliver our messenger RNA therapies and vaccines quickly, which will support rapid progression from development candidate nomination to human proof-of-concept,” he says.

Approximately 100 of Moderna's current 460 workers will move from the company's three existing locations in Cambridge to the Norwood facility. Moderna also plans to hire more than 100 new employees for the Norwood plant.

The Newmark Grubb Knight Frank leasing team of Mike Frisoli, Taryn Wilson and Matt Morgan serve as exclusive leasing agents for the property. Moderna was represented by JLL managing directors Peter Bekarian and Tom Kent and EVP Don Domoretsky.

“This is a major, market moving lease transaction for the 128 South market,” says Frisoli, an executive managing director at Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. “Campanelli went ahead and began the project on a speculative basis at Upland, which helped generate a lot of activity leading to this major lease transaction.”

A Moderna spokesperson tells Globest.com that the company evaluated a number of sites before deciding the Norwood site, was “a best match” for the biotech firm.

Stephen Murphy, partner and principal of acquisitions for Campanelli, says that the Town of Norwood has welcomed Moderna and designated 100 Tech Drive as an Economic Opportunity Area. The company says it is looking to secure Tax Incremental Financing for the building redevelopment project.