Cardio3 BioSciences, a Belgium company that develops biopharmaceutical therapies to treat heart diseases, announced plans to open its first U.S. facility in Rochester.
The company said it will invest $1.5 million and hire 33 people to work at a 15,000-square-foot facility in the Minnesota BioBusiness Center in downtown Rochester. Cardio3 said the average wages of the new jobs will be $21.52 an hour. The company plans to further develop its C-Cure pharmaceutical therapy at the center.
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) will award the company $357,000 from the Minnesota Job Creation Fund once Cardio3 completes its investment and hiring goals.
“Cardio3 is a global company with groundbreaking heart therapy treatments and is a welcome addition to Minnesota’s world-leading destination for life sciences,” said DEED Commissioner Katie Clark Sieben. “The company’s choice to invest in Minnesota will mean positive economic benefits for the community, including new, high-quality jobs and an increase in the local tax base.”
Cardio3 BioSciences, headquartered in Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium, was founded in 2007 with a focus on discovering, developing and commercializing regenerative and protective therapies for cardiovascular diseases. The company’s C-Cure therapy works by harvesting a patient’s cells from bone marrow and reprogramming them to repair that patient’s damaged heart muscles.
The Mayo Clinic, which has been working with Cardio3 for several years to develop the therapy, has a small ownership stake in the company.
“This project was seven years in the making,” said Rochester Mayor Ardell Brede. "It's gratifying to see the hard work put into our annual BIO International trade show attendance pay off. Cardio3 will be a great addition to our business community.”
The Job Creation Fund, which was first proposed by Governor Mark Dayton to encourage job growth in Minnesota, is a pay-for-performance program that provides expansion support funding to businesses after they meet certain criteria, including minimum requirements for job creation and private investments.
Since the Job Creation Fund was launched in January 2014, DEED has awarded $13.6 million to 27 companies in Minnesota. Those companies have committed to creating nearly 1,400 new full-time jobs and plan to invest $253 million to expand.
DEED is the state’s principal economic development agency, promoting business recruitment, expansion and retention, workforce development, international trade, and community development. For more details about the agency and our services, visit us at http://mn.gov/deed/ . Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/mndeed .