Barcelona-based health care company Grifols is opening its largest and most advanced plasma testing facility in San Marcos.
The 72,000-square-foot facility will analyze up to 5 million human plasma samples annually. Grifols received approval from the Food and Drug Administration in December 2011 and is now certified to begin its work with plasma samples.
The facility will ensure the safety of plasma samples collected from Grifols' 147 plasma donation centers across the United States through testing and quality control analysis.
The facility will need a staff of 90 technicians, some of whom will be current Grifols employees who want to transfer to San Marcos. The rest of the positions will be filled locally.
Amy Madison, president and CEO of the Greater San Marcos Partnership, said that one of the main reasons Grifols chose San Marcos was the proximity of Texas State University to its facility.
The university has been a great resource during its initial hiring process, she said.
"They are very thrilled with the quality of students that they [Texas State] produce," she said. "Having a university like Texas State that has a constant graduation of students that are high-quality [and] hardworking with a great work ethic has been a very strong influence."
She said Grifols was also pleased with the quick and smooth construction of it first facility in San Marcos. The positive experience encouraged the company consider moving other facilities to the city.
Grifols owns two other buildings in San Marcos and plans to expand production to those facilities once it decides what it will do with Talecris Biotherapeutics, a U.S.-based plasma product-making company it acquired in 2011.
This second phase could bring an additional 100 jobs to San Marcos, Madison said.
Grifols is the world's third-largest producer of plasma-derived therapies to treat rare medical conditions such as bleeding disorders, immune deficiencies and genetic emphysema.
The company has facilities in more than 90 countries and also manufactures hospital pharmacy products, intravenous solutions, diagnostic tools and medical devices.
