AbbVie Will Add 100 Jobs in $30 Million Puerto Rico Expansion
March 18, 2015
By Riley McDermid, BioSpace.com Breaking News Sr. Editor
Chicago-based AbbVie will expand its operations in Puerto Rico to the tune of $30 million and 100 new jobs over the next two years, the company said Wednesday, as it doubles down on the island as an increasingly source of manufacturing.
“This investment demonstrates our commitment to Puerto Rico as a key element of our global manufacturing network,” said Stephen Muldoon, vice president of engineering and operations for AbbVie, in a statement. “Our presence in Puerto Rico dates to 1969 and our patients benefit from our dedicated and talented local team”, added Muldoon.
AbbVie said it will expand its existing operations in the northern municipality of Barceloneta, which already houses two AbbVie sites. Local officials lauded the announcement as another sign that Puerto Rico is becoming a competitive force in the biopharmaceutical production world.
“AbbVie’s expansion in Barceloneta is very important for us, as this site is one of the world's most advanced biopharmaceutical facilities, contributing to our island's growing reputation as a biotech hub”, said Puerto Rico governor Alejandro García Padilla.
“AbbVie's growth plans in Puerto Rico as well as its approach towards innovation and advanced therapies, gives us additional capabilities within the very competitive biopharmaceutical industry,” he said. “Most important, their $30 million investment to expand their facilities is an encouraging expression of the company’s confidence in their future in Puerto Rico.”
AbbVie said it had worked closely with the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company (PRIDCO) to help promote the expansion with incentives for job creation and infrastructure.
“AbbVie’s expansion reaffirms Puerto Rico as a global manufacturing powerhouse where talented people combine with pioneer technologies to create biopharmaceutical products that have a significant role in the lives of many people worldwide,” said Antonio Medina Comas, executive director of PRIDCO. “We are committed to continue advancing our industrial development agenda, enabling similar investment opportunities to protect and expand our manufacturing footprint.”
AbbVie has three manufacturing plants in the island and generates more than 1,000 direct jobs which create 13 unique products that support the therapeutic areas of immunology, virology and metabolic disorders.
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