Bridget Reed Morawski
GAITHERSBURG, MD — (WMAL) A Montgomery County based vaccine company has announced plans to add up to 850 new jobs, primarily in its clinical trial support, research, and development operations.
Novavax, which has facilities in Rockville as well as in Uppsala, Sweden, will add hundreds of new jobs over the course of three phases of expansion.
The first phase, according to Karen Hood, the Media Relation’s Director at the Maryland Department of Commerce, will expand their research and manufacturing abilities. However, most of the newly created jobs will stem from the second and third phases of the expansion of their facilities.
The Maryland Department of Commerce has approved five million dollars in conditional loans to support the project development costs due to the job creation aspect of the expansion.
“We’re extremely pleased that a homegrown company like Novavax is going to expand here,” said Hood. “Obviously 850 jobs is incredibly significant.”
Novavax counts among its partners the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which provided a grant to the company in 2015 for developing a vaccine for RSV, a respiratory virus that infects the lungs, for maternal immunization.
It also is engaged in more than 20 clinical trials, ranging from the Ebola virus and pandemic influenza, to the more benign seasonal influenza.
Copyright 2016 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (Photo: National Cancer Institute)
