Tampa biotech invests $9M to expand

TAMPA — Xcelience, an international contract development and manufacturing organization, is expanding operations in Tampa, which it says will create 100 new jobs and retain another 100.

The company, which services the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, is investing $9 million in the expansion, increasing the capacity of its current manufacturing facility at 5415 W. Laurel St., by 6,000 square feet. Xcelience also will expand its pharmaceutical development labs in a new 71,000-square-foot headquarters location at 4910 Savarese Circle.

The new jobs will be added to the company's pharmaceutical development, manufacturing, quality assurance and packaging.

“Tampa is a great place to build a base of scientific capabilities,” Derek Hennecke, president and CEO of Xcelience says, in a release. “The warm climate attracts a stable work force, and the government at all levels is eager to help us grow and prosper.

Xcelience provides pre-formulation, formulation development, analytical services, small-scale commercial manufacturing, and global clinic supplies packaging and logistics to help companies move a drug into clinical trials, according to a release.

Part of what's keeping Xcelience here is the possibility that a temporary suspension of sales tax on manufacturing equipment will become permanent. Gov. Rick Scott says he is working with the Legislature to eliminate that tax.

The company also received an incentive package from the Hillsborough County Commission of $100,000, along with a state incentive of $400,000. Those incentives are contingent on jobs valued at $56,000 each and are created over a six-year period. It also includes $135,000 in training reimbursement, and $585,000 in sales tax exemptions.