Crown Bioscience Inc will make a $1 million investment to establish a pharmaceutical research and development facility at the New Iberia Research Center, 19.2 miles southeast of Lafayette, in New Iberia, Louisiana. The expansion project for the global drug discovery and development company will enable CrownBio to advance treatments for cardiovascular and metabolic disease research.

CrownBio will coordinate its research efforts with the New Iberia Research Center, an affiliate of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, which specializes in the management of nonhuman primates for applied and basic research.

“We chose to expand in Louisiana, and specifically the NIRC, because of the growing biomedical science community there and the operational excellence that exists at NIRC,” CEO Jean-Pierre Wery said. “It was important for us to be located at a facility with multiple research capabilities that could harmonize well with the various efficacy and model development studies conducted by CrownBio. We are confident Louisiana, and NIRC, is the place for CrownBio to grow as we engage in the next leading phase of CVMD research that brings drugs to the clinical phase. We are very excited to contribute positively to the economic growth of the New Iberia region.”

The UL Lafayette research center in New Iberia will enable CrownBio to expand its research and grow beyond the capacity it had in North Carolina, company officials said. The company will begin operating at the New Iberia Research Center in January and grow its research services in Louisiana over the next several years.

“Our center in New Iberia has the research and analytical expertise and infrastructure in place to assist CrownBio to respond to the needs of its global clientele very quickly,” said NIRC Director François Villinger. “We are committed to incubating and growing businesses in the biomedical arena, supported by the strength of UL Lafayette’s research in life sciences.”

In addition to negotiating a facility lease at the New Iberia Research Center, the economic development partners, Iberia Industrial Development Foundation, One Acadiana and Louisiana Economic Development, provided project guidance and assistance that will include the company’s utilization of the state’s Quality Jobs Program.

“This announcement exemplifies the Acadiana Region’s continued effort to diversify our economy to provide new high-wage jobs for Acadiana families,” said President & CEO Jason El Koubi of One Acadiana. “The University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s New Iberia Research Center is a tremendous asset for the region, and this partnership demonstrates how we are leveraging Acadiana’s cutting-edge research and engineering capabilities to grow our economy.”