Bothell loses planned biotechnology manufacturing plant

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, September 24, 2025

EVERETT — Sana Biotechnology has canceled plans to build a major biotech manufacturing factory in Bothell that was supposed to employ hundreds of workers within a few years.

The publicly traded company said in an earnings report on Aug. 11 that it had decided to use a contract manufacturer to produce its cell-engineered and gene therapy drugs instead of manufacturing them in-house.

The publicly traded company reported a $44.6 million charge on the earnings report, mostly related to costs for the build-out of the Bothell facility. That contributed to an overall $93.8 million loss for the three months ending June 30.

Sana first announced the proposed manufacturing plant at the old AT&T call center at 3555 Monte Villa Parkway more than three years ago. It broke ground in August 2023.

The company is developing cell and gene therapy products for Type I diabetics, autoimmune diseases, and certain blood cancers, Sana regulatory filings show.

Sana officials opened the Bothell facility only 13 months ago in a ceremony to mark the build-out of the former call center.

At a ribbon cutting ceremony on Aug 12, 2024, company CEO Steve Harr said Sana planned to employ more than 60 workers at the facility in the coming months and to eventually have hundreds of employees at the Bothell site in five-plus years.

While Sana is involved in clinical trials for some of its drugs, it has not received regulatory approval from the federal Food and Drug Administration for patient use, according to company disclosures.

While the company plans to use outside manufacturers in the short-term, company spokesperson Nikki Keith said in an email it is still evaluating options past that time frame.

“For the mid to long term, we have a number of options, re: Bothell and we’ll decide at the approximate time,” she said.

The Sana announcement is the latest blow to Snohomish County in the last 18 months in terms of creating more biotechnology manufacturing jobs.

In March 2024, drug manufacturer Pfizer announced it was suspending construction of a plant at its Seagen biotech subsidiary at 215 Shuksan Way near Paine Field in Everett.

The long-anticipated Seagen manufacturing plant was supposed to employ 200 workers and was nearing completion when Pfizer pulled the plug.

Pfizer paid $43 billion in Dec. 2023 to acquire Seagen, which is based in Bothell and is developing oncology drugs.

Pfizer, in reversing the decision to manufacture in Everett, said the oncology medicines would be manufactured instead in Pfizer’s North Carolina plant.

The company said the North Carolina plant “will have increased capacity with ongoing expansion of the facility.

Seagen, formerly known as Seattle Genetics, first announced the new 270,000-square-foot facility in Everett in April 2022. According to regulatory filings that year, the company expected to spend $350-$400 million building the facility.

At the time of the announcement, Seagen said it expected to employ up to 200 highly skilled workers in Everett to produce cancer medicine for clinical trials and for the commercial market.

The facility sits empty today.

While Boston, San Francisco and San Diego are the largest centers for biotech development and manufacturing in the U.S., there are more than 150 biotechnology firms along the I-405 tech corridor between Bothell and Woodinville, said Guy Hamilton, director of the center for Biotechnology Innovation and Training at the University of Washington Bothell.

Hamilton said the opening of the Seagen facility in Everett would have created a new biotechnology facility outside of the established corridor.

He said he didn’t have specific information on Sana’s retrenchment.

But he noted that given the current uncertain economic environment, some biotechnology companies without approved, proven blockbuster drugs, are having trouble fund raising or doing so to the level that they need.

“There is a lot of money sitting on the sidelines,” he said.

High interest rates have also contributed to a lack of borrowing from biotechnology companies because of concerns of adding to debt, Hamilton said.

He said that has led to biotechnology companies looking at ways to cut costs while they attempt to develop the next major drug that will attract investors.

For the Jan. 1 to June 30 period, Sana said it had a net loss of $143.2 million.

Sana’s financial reports show that the company has no income to offset the substantial costs associated with its clinical trials and operational expenses. In 2024, the company’s R&D expenses were over $217 million.

The company laid off around 29% of its workforce, around 120 employees in October 2023, company regulatory filings show.

These layoffs were part of a strategic repositioning that delayed some drug projects, including a cell therapy for a type of blood cancer.

In November 2022, Sana laid off 15% of its staff and discontinued development of a heart failure drug

The company entered into a lease agreement for 79,565 square feet of office, laboratory, and manufacturing space located in Bothell, Washington back in 2022, according to the company’s second quarter financial statement.

The initial term of the lease expires in February 2039 with the company agreeing to pay the landlord $68.8 million over the term of the agreement.

Since its founding in 2020, Sana has raised around $1.5 billion, including $75 million in a public offering last month.

Randy Diamond: 425-339-3097; randy.diamond@heraldnet.com