Simtra breaks ground on $250 million expansion, looks to add 130 jobs

Simtra BioPharma Solutions, formerly owned by Baxter, broke ground Tuesday on a $250 million expansion of its sterile fill and manufacturing campus in Bloomington. The move is expected to create 130 jobs in the wake of layoffs from Catalent and the post-pandemic supply chain struggles that preceded Baxter’s sale of the biopharma business to a private equity consortium.

Chief Operating Officer Ray Guidotti said the expansion, which will double the Bloomington Simtra plant’s capacity, is a response to customer demand for important medications.

“We don't make things that are kind of trivial, we don't make generics, we don't make anything like that,” he said. “We actually make what matters.”

In a February press release that announced the expansion, CEO Francisco Rafael Negron Segarra said the expansion will specifically aid growing demand for GLP-1 drugs, like Ozempic and other Type 2 diabetes medications, and antibody-drug conjugates, a targeted cancer treatment. 

Former owner Baxter traces its roots to 1931, but entered Bloomington when it purchased Cook Pharmaceutical Solutions in 2001. It sold the unit for $4.25 billion to Warburg Pincus and Advent International in 2023, which renamed the company Simtra and established new headquarters in New Jersey.

Today, Simtra’s Bloomington campus includes a 600,000-square-foot manufacturing site, two warehouses and a 120,000-square-foot facility for packaging, inspection and labeling. The company employs 1,039 people locally. The expansion will create a 140,000-square-foot facility with two syringe fill lines and one vial fill line. 

Other speakers at the groundbreaking included Monroe County Council President Trent Deckard, who called the groundbreaking a “big moment” in job creation and economic development. Simtra leaders expressed gratitude for the partnership with the council, which granted the company a nearly $11 million tax break over 10 years to help facilitate the expansion. The company also has the potential for $1.6 million in tax credits secured from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation if the company hires Hoosiers.

Gov. Eric Holcomb called the Simtra expansion a “strike” while speaking at the site Tuesday. Indiana is first in the nation for pharmaceutical exports and second for life sciences exports, contributing to 10% of the state’s economic activity. But the industry, often considered “recession proof,” has struggled with supply chain issues, inflation and general uncertainties generated by the pandemic and foreign conflicts. 

Helping businesses like Simtra succeed requires a “pro-growth environment,” Holcomb told The Herald-Times in an interview. When it comes to supply chain challenges, the governor said he speaks with suppliers around the world in the hope of bringing the supply chain closer, making Indiana a hub for research, manufacturing and shipping and protecting it from geopolitical changes. He also commended the long legacy of Simtra’s Bloomington site. 

“It’s one thing to get something new but it’s also something very special about growing what you have in an ever-changing world,” he said. “So kudos to the leadership here, to not just take over an asset but actually grow it.”

While Simtra claims high demand for its products, similar companies like Catalent have seen a decline in demand, particularly regarding COVID-19 vaccinations. In April 2022, Catalent announced a $350 million expansion that would have added 1,000 jobs in Bloomington before backpedaling and cutting positions later that year. The company continues to struggle, announcing another 130 layoffs in March.

Pat Adams, general manager of Simtra’s Bloomington site, said the economy has rebounded and didn’t express any supply chain concerns for Simtra. In addition to the new facility, the company plans to modernize its other buildings and views the expected 130 new jobs as a conservative estimate, Adams said. 

The new hires would work in operations, quality, supply chain, maintenance and engineering for an average wage of $73,000 a year. Current job openings at Simtra can be viewed at tinyurl.com/ww7vt3zn.

Reach Marissa Meador at MMeador@gannett.com.