RALEIGH – Life science firm Patheon will expand its presence in Greenville with nearly 300 jobs paying an average wage of more than $66,000 under an expansion agreement signed with the state of North Carolina on Tuesday.
An investment of $154 million is to be made as part of the expansion.
The company, which is owned by Thermo Fisher, will receive more than $5 million in state tax incentives if new job targets are met, according to the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Economic Investment Committee.
“Our continued growth in capabilities and capacity at our Greenville site has enabled us to support our clients’ needs and the patients they serve,” said Michel Lagarde, executive vice president, Thermo Fisher Scientific, in a statement. “This new investment will enable new innovation and development capabilities to respond to the accelerated demand for critical medicines and therapies. We also look forward to continued job creation and economic development in this region.”
Patheon will be required to maintain the 182 current jobs at its Pitt County operation. Another 500 jobs had been pledged to be created in an earlier agreement.
“Thermo Fisher’s exciting announcement underscores North Carolina’s global reputation as a prime location for life sciences companies to operate,” said Governor Roy Cooper in the announcement. “With our skilled workforce, strong industry collaboration and an innovative business climate, this decision proves, yet again, that North Carolina’s biotechnology sector is thriving statewide.”
The Greenville facility manufactures sterile injectables, tablets and capsules. It also offers stability storage and testing, and active pharmaceutical ingredient and large-molecule development, according to the N.C. Biotechnology Center.
500 jobs, $500M in investment coming to Thermo Fisher plant in Greenville
A total of 1,982 jobs are scheduled to be available once the expansions have been completed.
Other economic incentives include more than $500,000 in community college training, $100,000 from the North Carolina Biotech Center, and some $4 million from Pitt County and the City of Greenville.
The Pitt County site was selected over another Thermo Fisher location in Italy.
