Curia Opens $200 Million Albuquerque Expansion With 250-Plus Jobs Expected

ALBUQUERQUE, NM — One of Albuquerque's oldest drug manufacturers just got a lot bigger. Curia cut the ribbon September 3 on a $200 million expansion of its sterile manufacturing campus on Alexander Boulevard NE, and the state says the project should bring more than 250 new jobs averaging over $50,000 a year.

New filling lines, new freeze-dryers, and a long hiring runway for production, quality and support workers in the North I-25 corridor.

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📍 At a Glance

Business	Curia, sterile drug product manufacturing and fill-finish
Opened	Ribbon cutting September 3, 2026
Address	4401 Alexander Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87107, plus a second site at 4272 Balloon Park Road NE
Size	About 70,000 new square feet added to a roughly 200,000-square-foot footprint
Investment	$200 million
New jobs	More than 250 expected, average salary above $50,000 (state figures)

What Curia Built on Alexander Boulevard

Curia has made injectable medicines in Albuquerque for more than 40 years, a quiet fixture of the north-side industrial strip off I-25. The expansion adds two new isolated filling lines. One is a flexible line that can fill vials, syringes and cartridges. The other is a high-speed vial line rated at 400 vials a minute, with 1,000-liter batch capacity and biosafety level 2 containment, which lets the plant handle biologics and vaccines that need extra protection.

The state's New Mexico Economic Development Department also lists two new lyophilizers, the freeze-drying units that turn liquid drugs into shelf-stable powder, plus automated inspection and packaging equipment. Ground was broken in October 2022, and the work is backed in part by a federal cooperative agreement with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.

"Curia's continued investment in Albuquerque means more good-paying jobs for New Mexicans," Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said at the ceremony.

💼 The Jobs: What Kind, and What They Pay

The state is backing the project with up to $5 million from its Local Economic Development Act job-creation fund. For job seekers, the headcount matters more than the ribbon.

When the city reviewed the original incentive in 2022, Curia described a mix of skilled and entry-level manufacturing work: sterile injectable production, quality assurance, training and support roles. Pay in that filing ran from about $43,000 to more than $170,000, with the company covering at least half of health insurance premiums. Curia also highlights a training program it calls Sterile University as part of the new campus.

One honest caveat: neither Curia nor the state has published a hiring schedule or a list of open positions tied to the 250 figure. The original 2022 agreement counted 174 new jobs over ten years, and the larger number comes from the state's September announcement. Treat this as a multi-year build, not a single hiring wave. Get your resume ready and watch for postings.

🔎 Where to Aim Your Search

Pharmaceutical plants hire well beyond the filling room. Warehouse, maintenance, lab and quality jobs all feed the line, and experience from food production, semiconductors at Rio Rancho, or hospital sterile processing translates better than most people expect.

Start here:

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Curia in Albuquerque?

The main campus is at 4401 Alexander Blvd. NE, with a second facility at 4272 Balloon Park Road NE. Both sit on the north side of the city near I-25.

How many jobs is the Curia expansion creating?

The state says more than 250, with an average salary above $50,000. No timeline for filling them has been published.

Do I need a science degree?

Not for every role. The company's 2022 incentive filing described both skilled and entry-level manufacturing positions. Lab and quality roles usually ask for more education.

Is Curia hiring right now?

No specific openings were announced with the expansion. Check Curia's own careers listings and the job links above, and set an alert so new postings reach you first.

What does Curia make?

Injectable medicines and vaccines. The Albuquerque plant handles fill-finish, the final sterile step where a drug goes into vials, syringes or cartridges.

Get Ready Before the Postings Land

Expansions like this fill fastest with people who are already in the system. Create your free LocalJobPage profile so employers can find you, and browse the Albuquerque Career Center for guides on getting hired locally.

Employers: Hiring around the new filling lines or anywhere in the metro? Post your openings on LocalJobPage and reach Albuquerque job seekers.