Aditxt to produce 300 jobs in Richmond

A biotech company is setting up shop in Richmond and is expected to produce 300 jobs, Gov. Ralph Northam announced Monday. California-based Aditx Therapeutics Inc. (Aditxt) has pledged to invest $31.5 million over the next three years in its first AditxtScore Center, a facility that will monitor patients’ immune systems.

The company plans to open its facility at Richmond’s Bio+Tech Park by the second half of 2021, Northam said, although its scale-up is expected to take about three years, as it occupies 25,000 square feet with future expansion planned.

“The Richmond region has emerged as a hub for cutting-edge biotech companies, and this thriving industry will be bolstered by the addition of Aditxt’s Immune Monitoring Center,” Northam said in a statement. “The Virginia Bio+Tech Park is an ideal location for the company to continue its groundbreaking work to improve the health of our communities and help us better understand our own immune systems — something that has become extremely important over the past year. We are honored to welcome Aditxt to the commonwealth, and we thank the company for creating more than 300 well-paid jobs for the people of Virginia.”

The new AditxtScore program measures patients’ immune biomarkers and can predict immunity to specific diseases, including COVID-19. Aditxt went public in June 2020 and is developing other platforms, including one that is designed to retrain a patient’s immune system to tolerate transplanted organs, autoimmune diseases and allergies, with clinical studies in patients by the end of 2021.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership’s Virginia Talent Accelerator Program will assist Aditxt in recruiting and training employees at no cost to the company. VEDP also worked with the city of Richmond and the Virginia Bio+Tech Park in securing the project, and Northam approved a $1.3 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist the city. Aditxt is eligible for state benefits through multiple programs, including a research and development tax credit.