Life-Sciences Company Building $250M Athens-Area Campus

Life sciences company Meissner says it will break ground this summer on a $250 million campus in Winterville, not far from the University of Georgia. The company has submitted plans for an 800,000-square-foot project. It will be built in phases on about 125 acres. It will create over 1,700 jobs.

Meissner is one of the world’s largest privately held companies in the bioprocessing sector. It develops, manufactures, supplies and services products and systems for the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries.

It will be the company’s second U.S. manufacturing campus. The project would include cleanroom facilities, laboratories, research and development, and office spaces. Operations are expected to begin in early 2026. 

The Atlanta Business Chronicle reports the state has experienced 20% growth in life sciences employment since 2015. There are more than 78,000 industry workers across the state, and at least 4,000 life science organizations operate in Georgia.

Other big life sciences projects include Georgia Tech’s $1 billion Science Square and the 2,000-acre Rowen development in Gwinnett County.