OBSERVER Photo by Natasha Matteliano Pictured is the outer shell of Athenex.

ImmunityBio, Inc., a clinical-stage immunotherapy company, announced Tuesday it has completed acquisition of the leasehold interest in pharmaceutical manufacturing space in Dunkirk from global pharmaceutical company Athenex, Inc.

The new state-of-the-art biotech production facility includes clean rooms for upstream and downstream manufacturing activities, as well as fill and finish and large-scale lyophilization capabilities. The full-scale facility enables ImmunityBio to substantially expand and diversify its existing manufacturing capacity in the U.S. and through its strategic collaborators in Africa.

“We are thrilled to add the Dunkirk manufacturing facility and the talented team running it to our organization,” said Richard Adcock, President and CEO of ImmunityBio. “This facility provides production capacity at a significant scale here in the U.S. and at significantly lower capital cost than building a facility like this from the ground up. It is an important component of our overall strategic growth plan, accelerating our ability to develop, prove, and bring to market our most promising products and therapies in competitive and regulated markets.”

Athenex estimated the transaction at nearly $40 million, with a portion of the proceeds from the deal to be used to service the company’s debt obligations, and for other general corporate purposes.

“We are pleased with the opportunity to partner with ImmunityBio on the sale of our leasehold at the Dunkirk facility,” said Jeffrey Yordon, Chief Operating Officer, President Athenex Pharmaceutical Division, “They are well positioned to build on the foundation that we established in this state-of-the-art facility, and we look forward to continuing to work with the Dunkirk team in the future as a contract manufacturing partner.”

As of 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Athenex stock was trading at around 85 cents per share. ImmunityBio was trading at $7.05 per share.