WILLMAR — Vaxxinova US , originally called Epitopix, is looking to expand in the Willmar area by purchasing additional land surrounding its manufacturing facility northwest of Willmar.

Brian Harberts, Vaxxinova’s director of finance, reached out to the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission to discuss purchasing some of the land which the county owns west of the manufacturing facility, EDC Executive Director Aaron Backman told the EDC’s joint operations board at a meeting Thursday.

Harberts informed Backman that Vaxxinova intends to build a campus for Vaxxinova US, which acquired Epitopix in 2018. Shortly after acquiring Epitopix, a $1.3 million grant from the state was secured in order to allow the extension of water and sewer to the manufacturing facility, located on 45th Street Northwest.

Part of the reason the state approved the grant was because Vaxxinova had talked about investing $10 million to $20 million to expand its manufacturing facility, and it is looking to do just that now that the sewer and water extension is complete, according to Backman.

Read the full article by the West Central Tribune.