Biotech company NTx Bio, also known as Nature’s Toolbox, is pausing its plans for a $31 million manufacturing plant in Plano, the company confirmed.
The plant, announced in May 2025, was slated to open in the first quarter of this year, bringing 170 jobs to Plano’s Legacy West area.
“At this time, NTx Bio is continuing to evaluate its long-term growth strategy, including potential expansion opportunities in North Texas. While Plano has been an important part of those discussions, we are currently pausing our expansion plans there in 2026,” said CEO Joan Haab in a statement.
“As with many companies in our sector, we are taking a disciplined approach to capital deployment and timing, and we’ll share updates as plans become more defined throughout the year. For now, our focus remains on executing against our current priorities and supporting our core operations,” the statement continued. “We continue to view North Texas as an attractive life sciences market, and we’ll share more as our plans evolve.”
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The Rio Rancho, N.M.-based company was set to receive $1.5 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund for the plant. The plant was also to be part of a $4 billion life sciences innovation district called the Texas Research Quarter and subsidized by the City of Plano.
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That district, developed by NexPoint, is now in flux. In addition to the pause of NTx Bio’s plant, the former Electronic Data Systems campus that was planned to be the center of the district will now become AT&T’s new global headquarters in 2028.
NTx Bio manufactures components and systems for the production of pharmaceutical RNA and proteins, including mRNA. Founded in 2015, the company has received venture investment from JPMorgan Chase, RA Capital Management and others.
The mRNA technology, first developed for vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been targeted by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. since the start of Donald Trump’s second presidential administration.
Kennedy has called the COVID-19 vaccine “the deadliest vaccine ever made,” falsely criticizing mRNA vaccines as unable to protect against respiratory viruses, and easily rendered ineffective.
However, scientists and vaccine experts near uniformly stand by the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine and mRNA technology, which shows promise for use in a wide range of applications, including cancer and HIV.
Last summer, Kennedy directed the Department of Health and Human Services to wind down and cancel contracts related to mRNA vaccine development.
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NTx Bio, in collaboration with the Center for RNA Therapeutics at Houston Methodist Hospital, was awarded a government contract in 2023, which resulted in the launch of a commercially available RNA manufacturing platform in January 2025.
Federal cuts and vaccine skepticism have forced pharmaceutical companies to re-strategize, with Moderna recently saying it would no longer invest in late-stage vaccine trials. It also had a $600 million contract for the development of a bird flu vaccine canceled in May.
Premier scientific journal Nature decried mRNA research funding cuts in an editorial as the “highest irresponsibility.”
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