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MassDevelopment In The News
Patrick Salutes Devens Plant
May 3, 2007: Worcester Telegram & Gazette, by Lisa Eckelbecker
DEVENS — Gov. Deval L. Patrick brought his agenda for the life sciences and economic development to a chilly construction site yesterday, joining Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. to celebrate the construction of a $750 million drug plant.
Just days before thousands of biotechnology officials from around the country are due to arrive in Boston for the industry’s annual convention, Mr. Patrick stood with company officers to sign a white steel beam and tell about 200 Bristol-Myers Squibb employees and other officials that the state’s investment and work with the pharmaceutical giant stands as an example of what Massachusetts can do.
"This development will help us send a clear signal about the unique opportunities for growth in Massachusetts and our willingness to put in the work and the time and the effort and the imagination to bring those kinds of jobs to these shores, to Devens and elsewhere across the commonwealth," Mr. Patrick said.
Bristol-Myers Squibb’s decision, announced last year, to build a production facility in Massachusetts was a significant milestone for the state’s biotech industry, which is a world leader in research and development but has struggled to compete with lower-cost locations for manufacturing plants. In one case, Abbott Laboratories of Abbott Park, Ill., recently opened a plant in low-cost Puerto Rico for large-scale production of Humira, a rheumatoid arthritis drug that was developed and initially produced at Abbott Bioresearch Center in Worcester.
Bristol-Myers Squibb’s plant, already under construction, is due to include four buildings covering about 397,000 square feet in its first phase. The project could employ 800 construction workers. The company expects the plant to employ about 350 people and produce Orencia, a biological treatment for rheumatoid arthritis.
Future expansion phases on the site, however, could take employment up to 1,000 people, according to Bristol-Myers Squibb officials. James M. Cornelius, the company’s new chief executive, said Bristol-Myers Squibb has been seeking additional biologics for its pipeline of drugs.
"We’ve been out scouting for other products we can put in this facility," Mr. Cornelius told reporters. "The fact is, you better get ready for phase two, because I think we’re going to find them."
Based in New York City, Bristol-Myers Squibb is facing tough competition from generic drugs and rumors that it could be a candidate for a takeover. Mr. Cornelius, recently appointed to the company’s top position, served as interim chief executive for the last eight months after former chief executive Peter R. Dolan was ousted over a failed effort to keep a generic competitor of top-selling Plavix off the market.
The Devens plant is the largest single capital investment in Bristol-Myers Squibb’s history, a project due to be operationally complete in 2009 and ready to go before federal regulators in 2010. Bristol-Myers Squibb currently makes biologics at a plant in Syracuse, N.Y., and then finishes and packages the products in Puerto Rico. Contractors handle some production, too. Mr. Cornelius said the Massachusetts labor force drew the company to the state after an international site search that stretched from Ireland to Singapore.
"Devens turned out to be the winner of that (search) because I think we looked at the labor pool that’s here, the spirit with which the governor and state government has put behind this," Mr. Cornelius said. "We very much look forward to making this a centerpiece of what we’re going to do in biologics."
Local, state and federal officials were involved in the effort to lure Bristol-Myers Squibb to Devens. Local and state politicians waived zoning height restrictions to accommodate the plant, and the state offered more than $60 million in tax credits and infrastructure improvements to Devens.
The Devens Enterprise Commission, which oversees development of the former military base, approved permits for the plant after a record-short review of 49 days. Federal legislators helped with land transfers that gave Bristol-Myers Squibb control of about 90 acres.
State Rep. James B. Eldridge, D-Acton, described the state’s spending as "an excellent return on your investment to get $750 million back."
Mr. Patrick credited former Gov. Mitt Romney and former economic affairs secretary Ranch Kimball for their efforts to secure an agreement with Bristol-Myers Squibb, but he said the state feels an urgency to continue to compete for the company’s development.
"We have to continue to prove ourselves in state government and in the partnership that’s been built so we encourage the next phase of investment," Mr. Patrick said. "We intend to do that."
At Devens, Bristol-Myers Squibb joins a business community that includes a diverse range of companies, from a toy-store franchiser to a specialty chemicals manufacturer. The state is launching a $100 million fund to attract companies and new jobs to Massachusetts, and Devens officials continue to market the former base as a place with space and quick permitting opportunities.
Carlo de Notaristefani, Bristol-Myers Squibb president of technical operations, said the company will be looking for the same kind of quick responses from public officials as construction continues.
"I would not recommend changes other than the timelines, which have been very compressed in the initial phase of the project," he said. "We expect these timelines to be maintained during the execution, and that’s been a commitment through our discussions so far."
© Copyright 2007 Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
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