MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia University continues to prepare its move into the former Viatris Inc. facility in Morgantown.
The WVU Innovation Corporation will provide 1.2 million square feet of space for various organizations. The pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment is still in the building, and former employees of Viatris and its predecessor Mylan Pharmaceuticals will maintain the facility.
“Twelve individuals who are passionate about this facility and worked for Mylan, some of the 15 to 20 years,” said Stacey Armstrong, the president of the WVU Innovation Corporation. “They are our boots on the ground to make sure the facility is well maintained.”
Mylan Pharmaceuticals used the site through 2020 as the merger between the company and Upjohn Business was being finalized.
“The way it was developed over time — adding sections on over the years — the way Mylan and then Viatris did it really sets it up nicely to be able to section it off into different components,” Armstrong said.
Officials are reviewing the companies interested in moving into the space. Some businesses may need sterile areas, while other groups may need large offices or climate-controlled areas.
“We want to be thoughtful about who we bring in and how they partner with us and how they can work with one another,” Armstrong said. “You don’t get an opportunity very often to have a very big open, finished, well-cleaned, well-maintained space and get to figure out proactively how to fill it up.”
Hope Gas — the new entity created with the Hearthstone Energy purchase of Dominion Energy gas assets — will open their headquarters in the space. South Korea-based insulin producer UNDBIO considered the facility, but it will instead build a new facility in Morgantown.