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CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – Federal, state, and local leaders all converged on Rivanna Futures in Albemarle County for groundbreaking on a $4.5-billion AstraZeneca pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, a historical development in the area.
“This is a transformational moment for Albemarle County, for the greater Charlottesville area, for the Commonwealth of Virginia, and for the nation,” Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin told a gathering of federal, state, UVA, and local government and business leaders.
It’s a project in the life sciences prong of the county economic development plan in an effort to shift some tax burden off real estate owners where the ratio is about 89% real estate taxes comprising county revenue to 11% commercial taxes.
“I think this is the kind of expectation that we have that this project will get us into that range (15-to-18% commercial tax ratio), and then the add-ons from there,” said Albemarle Board of Supervisors Chair Jim Andrews from the Samuel Miller District. “The synergies this will help us with will make a real big difference.”
County Economic Development Director Emily Kilroy, who helped negotiate this deal along with Virginia Commerce Secretary Juan Pablo Segura, has been talking about this parcel of land in Rivanna Futures as “site ready,” and Gov. Youngkin said this was assisted by the state site readiness program enabled by the General Assembly and his Administration.
The Governor said this whole process started in London on his European trade trip, and CEO Pascal Soriot eventually told him they were coming to Virginia. The Governor said there were a number of sites under consideration, and this site was the selection after a $10-milion “Business Ready Site Program” investment there.
Soriot told Cville Right Now the speed at which something could be done with this site was the main selection factor.
“The Governor and his team moved at light-speed in terms of discussion and interactions, and it was really fantastic cooperation from Day One,” Soroit said.
“The team here in Albemarle did a fantastic job, and the location is very good for us because we’re also in Gaithersburg and Frederick, MD, so it facilitates our team to travel from one site to the other.”
“The team here in the county did an amazing job to convince us, and they moved very quickly because it’s important for a company to be able to work with a government or city that moves very quickly,” Soriot noted.
He said that’s especially crucial in pharmaceutical manufacturing as the Trump Administration moves to bring more to the United States, and to become less dependent for national security reasons on foreign manufacturers.
“Today is a wake-up call for the global freeloading countries that are not carrying their load,” said Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz at Thursday’s groundbreaking.
“With 4% of the population, we’re paying 60-70% of drug company profits,” Oz said.
“So if you’re watching us from another country, please do your part. If not, we will be happy to welcome your business to our country, which is what we’re witnessing today.”
Gov. Youngkin’s vision, stated in December 2023 at the groundbreaking of the Paul and Diane Manning Center for Biotechnology at Fontaine Research Park is a Virginia life sciences diamond withe UVA, Virginia Tech, VCU, and George Mason comprising a region rivaling the North Carolina Research Triangle.
With this facility, the Governor said, “It will be the core of what I expect to be the epicenter between Richmond and Rockingham County of a pharmaceutical manufacturing district, a life sciences portal, that will rival anyplace in the world”.
“I think this will be a fantastic opportunity to build this ecosystem,” Soriot said.
“I worked in California at Genentech for several years, and in San Francisco like in Boston, you have this community of academia and companies that build a life sciences ecosystem, and we can do the same here.”
With this facility comes jobs… 600 scientists to be employed when it opens in either 2029 or 2030. Until then, some 3000 will be employed throughout the construction phase.
The jobs excite Albemarle White Hall Supervisor Anne Mallek.
“I think the career level jobs that are available to people of all ages are really going to be important because many of our young graduates move away to get good employment,” Mallek said.
“Also for people who are changing jobs in their 40s or 50s, they now have another opportunity to get into a career ladder in health sciences.”
“I started out as a dishwasher in a research lab as a 17-year old right here at UVA in reproductive physiology with Charles Hamner, and that background and the availability to move into other research jobs… was a good living.”
The project announcement is aligned with Albemarle County’s Economic Development Strategic Plan, which was adopted in August 2025 and identifies biotechnology and life sciences, national security, and agribusiness as key industries for a balanced economy.