In an announcement Wednesday morning from the Governor’s Reception Room in the Capitol Building, Justice and Department of Economic Development Cabinet Secretary Mitch Carmichael said that the state and UNDBIO had come to an agreement on a financial incentive package to bring the company to West Virginia.

“Today we’re announcing a major, major move,” Justice said. “The UNDBIO company from South Korea … has secured a lease with West Virginia University to build an insulin-manufacturing facility in Morgantown.”

UNDBIO plans to break ground this fall at the WVU Research Park in Morgantown on a state-of-the-art insulin-manufacturing plant. The project will be done in phases, with the company investing $100 million to complete phase one. According to Justice, the company will create 200 jobs in its first three years.

The company has created a prototype once-weekly insulin injection system. UNDBIO will seek approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in phase one of the project. The company expects to create more jobs once FDA approval is secured.

photo by: Photo courtesy of UNDBIO

This rendering shows the UNDBIO insulin-manufacturing plant proposed to be built at the WVU Research Park in Morgantown.

UNDBIO finalized a lease with WVU for 23 acres at its research park, with construction expected to be completed by December 2024. The company first signed a memorandum of understanding with the state for the project last May, predicting that the project could create as many as 1,200 jobs.

Yong Soo Jun, the chairman of UNDBIO, said he chose West Virginia for the warm welcome he received last year from Justice and state officials. He also was moved by seeing the West Virginia Veterans Memorial on the grounds of the State Capitol Complex which displays the names of the state’s war dead, including those who gave their lives in the Korean War.

“You welcomed me with open arms. … Today, we are truly Mountaineers,” Jun said. “The mission of UNDBIO is a vital one: to develop and produce state-of-the-art technology in West Virginia that is a reasonable price for the diabetes population. The products of UNDBIO with both save human lives and improve the quality of life for those afflicted with diabetes. If all goes according to plan, UNDBIO will become one of the top biopharmaceutical companies.”

The state’s economic incentive package with UNDBIO is tiered based on investment. The state will contribute $3 million for every $30 million of investment by UNDBIO for a total state investment of $9 million. The deal also requires a certain number of jobs to be created along with the company’s investment in order to qualify for the state’s contribution.

“We talked about the different economic incentives we could provide, and we could tell this transaction was really going to go places,” Carmichael said. “This is a world-class company that has a great attitude about economic development and helping the communities in which they live.”

The Morgantown area was known for decades for its pharmaceutical manufacturing when Mylan Puskar brought Mylan N.V. to Morgantown. The company, which merged with Pfizer off-shoot UpJohn to create the new company Viatris in 2019, closed its Morgantown facility in 2020, resulting in 1,500 people losing their jobs.

“We were dealt a real curveball a few years back in the Morgantown area, and trying to build back an industry — whether it be pharmaceuticals or whatever it may be — was surely an uphill climb,” Justice said. “The addition of these good-paying jobs with the potential for even more in the future is surely great, great news for Morgantown.”