York County is concerned about their privacy, leaving students worried.
By Evi Houston and Samiyah Heyward
Managing Editor and Staff Writer
News
Octapharma, a large plasma fractionator company from Europe, is landing its first manufacturing plant in the United States here in Rock Hill, leading to benefits for all involved in the deal.
On a 200 acre plot off of Interstate 77, Rock Hill city government has been turning down potential developers left and right for four years- until this summer, when they finally said yes. Octapharma, a pharmaceutical company creating plasma-derived drugs, will soon begin construction in York County.
The development “marks a significant milestone as the biopharmaceutical manufacturer moves forward with establishing operations in South Carolina, further strengthening the state’s rapidly growing life sciences industry,” according to a press release from Governor McMaster.
Octapharma’s Background
Octapharma is a global biopharmaceutical company based in Switzerland, and currently it stands as the largest independent and privately owned plasma fracturing company in the world. In the past year alone, they reported up to $4 billion in revenue, representing a five percent year-on-year growth.
As the world’s largest privately owned plasma fractionator, their primary focus is on the process of taking proteins out of donated plasma to create therapeutics, medications and various treatments. These drugs aid in conditions that include but are not limited to clotting disorders, physical trauma, cancer and over 300 types of primary and secondary immune deficiencies.
With over 10,000 units of plasma needed daily in the U.S. alone, they pride themselves on providing “unmatched service to [their] donors, employees, and communities” with strict and enhanced safety protocols to enforce it, according to their website.
“They [are] a very well respected company, [. . . ] they genuinely care about their employees. They care about their patients— not just the money,” said Lisa Brown, Economic and Urban Development Director for the City of Rock Hill. Brown was a major proponent of closing the deal with Octapharma.
Timeline and location
Octapharma formally announced plans to establish its first ever U.S. manufacturing and production facility at the Palmetto Research Park off of Interstate 77 in Rock Hill, South Carolina on June 29, 2026. This will be located on the site of the failed Carolina Panthers’ headquarters and training camp, which was terminated mid-construction due to disputes between the owners and York County and Rock Hill officials.
The Panthers development was expected to be a $500 million project, making the projected $1.5 billion investment from Octapharma more than double it.
The Octapharma investment is estimated to bring in around 1,500 jobs, each paying well over six figures.
The biopharmaceutical company plans to build their headquarters and office first. Construction and grading is expected to begin in 2027, with the manufacturing facility estimated to be finished around mid-2030 upon FDA approval.
The deal as it currently stands has not been finalized yet, but is expected to close by the end of 2026.
Novant Health will also develop a hospital at Palmetto Research Park worth $300 million.
Novant Health is a large, non-profit integrated network based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina serving communities spanning across North Carolina and South Carolina.
“[They] are nationally recognized for [their] unwavering commitment to safety and the highest quality care, and we serve as a catalyst for healthcare transformation through clinical trials, leading-edge research, innovative care delivery models and robust virtual care networks,” their official website said.
Details of the deal
After a tumultuous summer of negotiations among Octapharma, York County government and Rock Hill city government, a final deal was reached on July 29.
“This has been a long road for us to get to this point, and today we’re turning that page once and for all,” said Mayor John Gettys of the two-year long negotiation process.
Octapharma will purchase 50 acres from the city, with an expectation of 1,500 jobs within its first ten years of development. Novant Health will purchase an adjacent property in which it will invest $300 million in a new hospital and provide 250 jobs.
The county and city government are both looking forward to the arrival of Octapharma, but that does not mean that they were always on the same page. Disagreements between the two government entities held up the deal over the summer, which according to the Rock Hill Herald “got ugly in public.”
These disagreements were mostly about where to spend the revenue which would come from the deal. While York County was initially on board, they rejected the deal late in the process, leading to conflict and distrust.
“City officials questioned the integrity of their county counterparts, along with motives for shifting funding,” reported the Herald.
Lisa Brown commented on this conflict with the county, explaining that the county is in charge of negotiating tax incentives, which they would ideally agree on with the city – but this is not always the case.
During public negotiations, the county changed their mind about where tax revenue would be allocated, wanting more money to go into local schools. The city instead wanted this revenue for city services.
Ultimately, a compromise was made which pleased both sides.
“At the end of the day, we have great partners at the county, and though we may have a difference in opinion, I think we all agree Octapharma is a great project and something that we all want to see,” Brown said.
Benefits for Rock Hill
The Center for Economic Development, Brown’s organization, was started in the 1980s with the task of filling the void which textile mills left in Rock Hill once they were moved overseas. A life sciences plant is one way to fill this gap.
“To me, it’s really important that we have good diversification in our industry base,” Brown said.
The life science industry was specifically recruited for their longevity in the area (as Octapharma plans to stay for generations), high wages and secure jobs which recruit from various skill levels. This ranges from weeks of certificate-based training to a PhD, making it an “easy entry” industry.
Overall, these traits made Octapharma a very safe investment for the city.
Combined, Octapharma and Novant Health “represent over $1.8 billion dollars of investment and over 1,800 jobs” reported a Rock Hill press release. This makes the research park one of the largest investments in the state’s history, with many financial benefits to come from it.
In the next 40 years, property taxes from Octapharma will be split accordingly: $286.8 million for schools, $71.4 million for the city and $50.8 million for York County. The Rock Hill school district will also receive another $65 million within this 40 years.
It is worth noting that the benefits of Octapharma for the community are in contrast to the benefits anticipated from the failed Panthers site.
Brown explained that the Panthers would have provided larger hospitality tax and tourism to Rock Hill, but required much more public funding. Octapharma, a private development, will be cheaper for the city to build and provide jobs which out-number and out-pay the Panthers by a great amount.
The benefits of the plant have been weighed against many other proposals for development in Rock Hill, including data centers. Ultimately, Brown felt that Octapharma was the best fit for the community due to its mission, quality of jobs and investment into the county.
“I think it was something that the community would be proud of, and that it wouldn’t be something that we regretted later on,” Brown said.
On data centers, Brown said, “we have no interest. We have told them no before.”
She referenced the quality of life in Rock Hill which a data center might disrupt, along with its drain on energy and water resources. Brown hopes to recruit companies which are equally desired by the community and the city government.
Benefits for Octapharma
Octopharma’s move to York county is a mutually beneficial arrangement, with the company receiving short-term and long-term tax incentives, grant funding and a shortening of their supply chain.
“South Carolina’s talented workforce and strong life sciences ecosystem made it clear this was the right home for our first U.S. manufacturing facility. [. . .] This is just the beginning of a long partnership with Rock Hill and York County,” said Flemming Nielsen, president of Octapharma USA.
The United States is one of the largest suppliers of plasma to Octapharma via donation centers, so having a manufacturing plant closer to these centers is critical. Today, Octapharma deep freezes all plasma collected in the United States and ships it to Europe, then uses this plasma to develop drugs, before shipping them back to America.
With a plant in Rock Hill, this costly and time consuming supply chain problem can be fixed. South Carolina was an ideal location because of its infrastructure, access to deep water ports and closeness to major logistics networks.
On the financial side, the company is receiving 40 years of a reduced property tax rate. The manufacturing tax rate has already been lowered to 6% in recent years, but they will only pay 4%.
It may seem like the city is giving up a substantial amount of tax money in this deal, but Brown explained that without a 4% starting tax rate, Octapharma would have moved elsewhere.
“On paper, our tax rate is so high that we will never recruit a company unless we offer incentives,” Brown said. The state of South Carolina has an objectively “competitive disadvantage” when it comes to taxes, as other southern states tax little to none on large developments.
While giving an incentive is never ideal for the city, Brown explained that this was essential to closing the deal with Octapharma.
The deal “provides additional credits enabling the company to further buy down its tax bill for 30 years — a 50% reduction for the first decade, 35% in years 11 through 20 and 20% off the final 10 years,” reported the SC Daily Gazette.
Brown further said longer incentives help Octapharma mitigate risk and lock in a dependable tax rate. This not expected to be a net financial loss for the city when looking at the jobs and business which the plant will generate.
“I think if we didn’t offer them [tax incentives] for so long, we wouldn’t get them [Octapharma],” Brown said.
The company will also receive a $65 million incentive from the state, in the form of a cash “pass-through grant” which they can use for specific construction projects on the property, as well as income tax breaks of $1,500 for every new job offered.
What this means for Winthrop students
With new facilities being built close to campus, there will be an influx of opportunities for Winthrop graduates — especially for those with science degrees.
Other biopharmaceutical companies in the Charlotte metro area are struggling to find workers upon opening, so there is a massive focus on recruiting new employees locally.
This is especially important since there are few manufacturing locations in the United States which do similar work to Octapharma, requiring local training in Rock Hill rather than recruitment.
Since Octapharma’s current career programs are international only, Rock Hill will be their first U.S. based facility to potentially offer them.
“There’s lots of opportunities [for Winthrop students]. They’re still going to need HR people. They’re still going to need finance people. They’re still going to need communications people,” Brown said.
Additionally, York Tech will have the first ever life science training facility in South Carolina. With the upcoming construction of Octapharma, they plan to use Winthrop and York Techs’ Dual Enrollment “Fast Track” program to prepare new employees for the plant.
“Winthrop is being very future focused in their desire to have the Advanced Manufacturing Engineering Program,” Brown said.
Student Perspectives
As council members continue their efforts to close Octapharma’s new deal, Winthrop students weigh in their opinions of the plant and the potential career and internship opportunities.
“It’s a really good chance to get people introduced to phlebotomy, which is drawing blood,” Isi Millard, sophomore biology major said. “[This would be] a pretty good opportunity for those interested in healthcare”.
“I’m not the biggest fan of big pharma corporations, but at the same time it’s still a [critical] need. [. . . ] Plasma and blood are always in constant demand in the medical field, and I think it’s important that people have easier access [when it comes to donating] blood and plasma because just one donation can save three to four people,” Millard said.
“If I ended up doing a hypothetical internship, I think I would enjoy it,” Cadyn Bagley, sophomore biology education major said. “They would be a good place to have an internship for those going into the medical field [as this] shows a side of medicine not many people see and I think it would be worthwhile info to learn”.
“Jobs in science are hard to come by, so I think 1,500 jobs that pay well are a great step for South Carolina’s science industry,” Bagley said.
Following the development of Octapharma, Brown expects a growth in more life-science related industries, while still exalting small businesses which make up the bulk of Rock Hill commerce.
“We will continue to fight for more life science [investments],” Brown said.
Once the deal is closed in the coming months, it will become public record and available on the York County Register of Deeds.
