BioPharma startup opens Fishers HQ

FISHERS, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) — Biopharmaceutical manufacturing startup INCOG BioPharma Services is celebrating the opening of its new global headquarters and manufacturing facility in Fishers. The nearly 100,000-square-foot facility provides formulation and filling of injectable drug products into vials, syringes, and cartridges for global biotech companies. Chief Executive Officer Cory Lewis calls the facility’s opening a milestone that is two years in the making.

In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Lewis says the company chose Fishers over several other cities and states.

“Proximity to people resources was a big driver, but it was also supported by a strong community,” Lewis said. “[The city has] done some really good things in terms of creating infrastructure but also being aggressive and leaning forward relative to supporting companies that are looking to start up, and that’s what we were doing.”

INCOG BioPharma first announced plans for the $60 million facility near 116th Street and I-69 in January 2021.

The company’s initial goal was to have 150 employees by the end of 2024. Fifty workers have already been hired toward that goal and Lewis says that number could grow to up to 250.

INCOG BioPharma is in the process of installing and qualifying its first filling line, which could take up to five months. However, Lewis says the facility has plenty of room for growth.

“That’s where our focus is through the end of September, completing what’s what media fills to help prove that you can, with repeatability and scale, produce sterile products. From there, it’s a wide open market,” he said. “We’ve made an investment that will allow us to compete at the Tier 1 level, best-in-class assets.”

While the facility will start with one filling line, Lewis says the company could add up to three more as needed.

Since INCOG BioPharma was founded in 2020, the city of Fishers has boosted its efforts to attract more life sciences businesses with more than $500 million in new, planned investments from healthcare-focused companies being committed over a 12-month period.

Lewis says it’s exciting for INCOG BioPharma to be at the front end of the Fishers life sciences movement. He says his hope is that the new hires his company brings in will benefit the other companies setting up shop in Fishers, and vice-versa.

“We’re 50 people growing to 150 growing to 250. Well, all of those individuals oftentimes bring partners, bring spouses, and they need a place to work,” he said. “And now, we’ve got five other companies that are putting roots right here in Fishers where hopefully, it’s a community that shares knowledge and shares successes together.”