Gilead Sciences ($GILD) said it's investing an additional $100 million to expand its operations in Edmonton, Canada.
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| Gilead's Robin Nicol |
The expansion, which is expected to be completed in 2017, will be for a new manufacturing building and a processing tower that will house spray drying technology that provides improved absorption for pharmaceuticals, Edmonton Sun reported.
"This is a great opportunity to significantly expand our capacity here in Edmonton and to make drugs across many different therapeutic areas including HIV, cancer, liver disease, and cardiovascular," Robin Nicol, a Gilead vice president, told the newspaper.
Last week, California-based Gilead opened one of two new buildings at the Edmonton facility, which employs about 300 people. The pharmaceutical lab is 45,000 square feet. About 83 workers will operate in the building.
Construction of the second building is underway with completion slated for the spring of next year. It will accommodate another 86 scientists. When all the planned expansions are completed, the facility will total 184,000 square feet. Gilead said it expects to hire an additional 170 people over the next two years.
- see the Edmonton Sun story