NC pulls incentives for gene therapy companies to create 400 jobs in Durham
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- North Carolina canceled 2021 JDIGs after the firms failed to file 2024 reports.
- CARsgen and Jaguar failed to file 2024 reports, prompting JDIG terminations.
- State confirmed no JDIG funds paid; Jaguar moved to external manufacturing.
North Carolina has ended incentives for two gene therapy manufacturers to hire hundreds in Durham after neither company provided mandatory jobs creation and investment information.
During a meeting Tuesday, the N.C. Economic Investment Committee cancelled 2021 grants to CARsgen Therapeutics and Jaguar Gene Therapy, which each promised to create 200 jobs at new Triangle facilities during a period of heightened sector enthusiasm.
Job development investment grants, or JDIGs, are the main incentive North Carolina uses to encourage companies to invest in the state. Awards are disbursed through payroll tax rebates once the state confirms recipients met yearly hiring and investment targets. CARsgen and Jaguar never filed 2024 reports, triggering their JDIG terminations.
According to the N.C. Department of Commerce, neither company received state dollars through their failed JDIGs.
Gene therapies add to, turn off, or edit genes to treat diseases. The sector saw a surge of investments during the pandemic as record-low interest rates fueled bets on experimental medical breakthroughs. An industry drawback followed when interest rates rebounded and startups faced a crowded field.
“The entire field gets tremendously overinvested to the tune of billions of dollars going into these programs,” said Carl Schoellhammer, a partner at the personalized medicine consulting firm DeciBio.
FDA found violations at CARsgen’s Triangle site
CARsgen is a Chinese developer of therapies that edit a patient’s t-cells to have a stronger immune response against diseases. In 2021, the state awarded it a $1.6 million job development investment grant to select Durham for its first manufacturing site. The same year, the company went public, with its share price peaking at $54.50. CARsgen opened a facility just outside Research Triangle Park in 2022, but late the following year, the Food and Drug Administration inspected its North Carolina plant and found it violated good manufacturing practice regulations. The FDA paused CARSgen clinical trials until a follow-up inspection was completed in fall 2024.
Today, its stock sells for around $15 a share, less than a third off its 2021 high.
The company had been eligible to receive up to $1.6 million in payroll tax rebates from North Carolina had it created at least 200 jobs and invested $157 million in Durham County. It did not explain to the state Commerce Department why it missed its reporting deadlines, nor has CARSgen responded to questions from The News & Observer about whether it continues to operate in Durham.
Jaguar remains in Cary
Jaguar was founded in 2019 by former executives at Avexis, another gene therapy developer with a Durham footprint (Avexis is now part of Novartis). Two years later, North Carolina awarded Jaguar a JDIG to open a $125 million manufacturing plant by 2028. The state offered more than $2.3 million in potential tax benefits, with Durham County adding $525,000 if the project materialized.
At the time, Jaguar had three pre-clinical treatment candidates: for Type 1 diabetes, galactosemia and autism spectrum disorder with a certain genetic cause. In 2024, the company created Advanced Medicine Partners to manage manufacturing services and construct a 174,000-square-foot Durham facility.
In an email to The N&O Wednesday, Jaguar spokesperson Kate Neer said the conpany continues to operate in Cary, where she said it develops and tests analytical methods.
“The 2021 investment grant was related to Jaguar leasing space to support an in-house manufacturing model,” Neer wrote. “We have since moved to working with external manufacturers to support our gene therapy programs.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2026 at 7:56 AM.
