Pfizer plots $200M consolidation for St. Louis employees, will add 80 jobs

With development support from the state of Missouri and local governments, Pfizer plans to centralize 450 of its St. Louis employees, plus add 80 new jobs, at a planned $200 million R&D site.

Upon the facility’s expected completion in 2020, the company will move its employees in the area from “two sites and multiple buildings” to one location in Chesterfield, a St. Louis Suburb.

The site will be designed for R&D in vaccines, immuno-oncology drugs, monoclonal antibodies and biosims, according to a statement from the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership.

Having operated in the area for more than 13 years, Pfizer is “very proud of the world class employee base we’ve built here,” a spokesperson told FiercePharma.

Development incentives from the state will be contingent on “strict job creation criteria,” with construction set to begin next year. The company received additional assistance from the county and city for the $200 million project.

Local developers CRG and Clayco will build and own the facility with Pfizer planning to sign a lease to operate there.

For the pharma giant, the move in St. Louis comes as it looks to move corporate headquarters in New York City, a spokesperson said last month. The company hopes to begin relocating to "a new, more modern" Manhattan HQ by the middle of 2019.

The St. Louis consolidation also comes on the heels of the company’s Q3 earnings that fell 38% to $1.32 billion.