December 15, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
TARRYTOWN, N.Y. – Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is continuing to expand its physical footprint in New York’s Hudson Valley. The company snapped up a 76-acre site for $50 million, the Journal News reported.
Regeneron did not share and abundance information with the Journal on its plans for the site, which was a former campus for New York Life Insurance. Erin Loosen, a Regeneron spokesperson, did tell the Journal News that the site was part of the company’s growth strategies to advance its pipeline. Loosen said the building provides Regeneron “with access to much needed office space.
The acquisition of the former New York Life site continues Regeneron’s investment in the Westchester area. In September, Regeneron announced its plans to dramatically expand its research-and-development center in Greenburgh, which is part of Westchester County. As part of its proposal, Regeneron plans to build five new buildings and five partially underground parking garages on 30 acres of a 100-acre parcel it owns. The 100-acre site was acquired last year for $73 million by Regeneron’s subsidiary, Loop Road Holdings.
The growth in the Hudson Valley has been part of Regeneron’s strategic plans for years. In 2014, Leonard Schleifer, Regeneron’s president and chief executive officer, told the Albany Business Review that the company will double its 2,500-employee workforce over the next five years. For the past two years, Regeneron has seen a tremendous amount of growth. In 2015 alone, the company hired 1,200 employees worldwide, with about 950 for its New York locations.
Last year, the company invested $150 million in its Tarrytown plant to expand its research and development capacities. That was in addition to work it added to its upstate New York campus at a cost of about $150 million.
While Regeneron has certainly been on a roll, the company did see a temporary setback in October when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rejected Regeneron’s application for approval of sarilumab, the rheumatoid arthritis drug it was co-developing with French drugmaker Sanofi . The FDA objected to the drug due to certain deficiencies identified during a routine good manufacturing practice inspection of the Sanofi Le Trait facility in France where sarilumab is filled and finished. Sanofi filed a comprehensive corrective action plan with the FDA and said at the time it was “working towards a timely resolution that addresses these concerns.” Once the issues are addressed, both companies said they intend to seek a way to bring the drug to market. If approved, sarilumab is expected to generate $557 million in annual revenue by 2022, according to analysts’ projections.
Earlier this month, Regeneron and Sanofi filed for approval of Dupixent (dupilumab) for the treatment of adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis with the European Medicines Agency. The two companies filed for approval of Dupixent with the FDA in September and are expecting an answer in March.
