Rockville, MD-based Emergent Biosolutions says it plans to add up to 93 and invest $10.9 million in improvements at its Lansing, Michigan facility. The new jobs will be in manufacturing and chemical analysis, which a base salary around $62,000. The workforce expansion was made possible by the state's approval of $3 million in tax incentives Tuesday. The incentives, which will be spread over 10 years, will offset the costs Emergent would have borne for the jobs over the 10-year period, the Lansing State Journal reports.
Emergent currently has about 367 employees at the Lansing site and plans to add the new positions over the next five years, beginning 30 to 60 days. Improvements at the Lansing facility will be made using existing space. "This expansion is very important to our company," said Adam Havey, president of Emergent Biodefense Operations Lansing Inc., Emergent BioSolution's Lansing-based subsidiary. "It will allow us to continue to grow."
The company is also awaiting approval to open a $75 million vaccine manufacturing plan it built at the site. The Lansing facility could host manufacturing operations for the federal contract Emergent expects to win later this year for its next-generation anthrax vaccine candidate.
State officials say the addition of 93 positions would indirectly create another 209 positions in Lansing as a result of employees patronizing area businesses. "They're a great corporate citizen," Lansing Mayor Virg Bernero tells the Lansing State Journal. "They not only are key to our national defense, but to our local economic security."
- read the Lansing State Journal for more
PLUS: Emergent announced the commencement of its Phase I/II clinical trial for its Anthrax Immune Globulin therapeutic candidate. "The initiation of this clinical trial is a significant milestone that marks our continued commitment to the AIG program and to the expansion of our anthrax product franchise," said Dr. Stephen Lockhart, Senior Vice President Product Development of Emergent BioSolutions. "AIG is an integral component of our efforts to develop safe and effective treatments for patients to be used in the event of a biological attack." Release