Dive Brief:
- Nexus Pharmaceuticals plans to invest $250 million in a 10-year, multi-phase project to build a sterile injectable manufacturing facility in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, the company said Wednesday.
- In the first phase, the company is spending $85 million to build a 100,000-square-foot plant that will include an advanced isolator system and freeze-drying machines.
- Construction will start next month, and production should begin in 2022 after clearance from the Food and Drug Administration, the privately-owned drugmaker said.
Dive Insight:
Nexus said it is committed to developing technology that can address drug shortages "that have plagued the market for years of critical-need, life-saving sterile injectable medications."
The company has six injectables on the market, including the heart medicines isoproterenol and sodium nitroprusside. Those two medications, sold under the brand names Isuprel and Nitropress, drew national attention a few years ago after Valeant Pharmaceuticals dramatically increased their prices.
The new manufacturing facility, located about halfway between Milwaukee and Chicago, will create more than 77 new jobs in high-tech manufacturing and science by 2022, Nexus said. Those workers will earn an average salary of $70,000, according to the office of Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers.
"This is one of the most significant pharmaceutical investments in Wisconsin in years," Evers said in a statement.
Another 134 jobs may be created indirectly by the project in the region, and construction of the facility could support 379 direct and indirect jobs, the governor’s office said.
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation authorized as much as $1.5 million in state income tax credits for the project over four years. The credits will depend on how many jobs the project creates and how much the company invests during that period, the governor’s office said.
The 16-acre parcel in Prairie Highlands Corporate Park is located near Interstate 94.
Nexus is based in Lincolnshire, a suburb north of Chicago.