Protein Sciences Corp., a vaccine and biopharmaceutical company, announced last week that it will be establishing manufacturing and developing operations in Pearl River.
The company”™s multimillion dollar investment, announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, will create 50 full-time jobs that could grow to 150 over the next 10 years.
“We are thrilled to be expanding our operations into New York and laying roots in Rockland County,” said Protein Sciences CEO Manon Cox in a statement. “The state and local government have provided invaluable assistance, without which this transaction would not have been viable.”
Protein Sciences will make a multimillion dollar investment in their operations at the Pearl River site to establish a production line for Flublok, its seasonal flu vaccine candidate, including machinery and equipment, engineering and process validation. The company will initially lease two buildings covering 83,000 square feet on the Pearl River campus.
The company has developed a cell-based platform technology for producing high-quality vaccines and biologics with speed and precision. Flublok will be Protein Sciences”™ first product manufactured at the Pearl River facility.
Flublok is under final review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; approval is expected in mid-2013.
The 550-acre Pearl River campus is a site for vaccine research, as well as key aspects of biologics research. It is owned and operated by Pfizer, the state”™s largest biopharmaceutical company, which has global headquarters in New York City.
The buildings being leased by Protein Sciences had previously been part of Pfizer”™s Pearl River manufacturing operations, which the company began exiting in 2010.
The deal was put together as part of the Empire Statement Department, the state”™s economic development agency. The Empire State Department will provide Protein Sciences with $2 million in tax credits through the Excelsior Jobs Program that is designed to incentivize the company to create 100 jobs by 2018 and sustain employment level through 2023.
“We are making smart investments to attract new businesses like Protein Sciences that strengthen key industries, create new jobs and grow our economy,” said Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Kenneth Adams in a statement. “The Hudson Valley is home to some of the fastest-growing biopharmaceutical industry clusters in the nation. We are proud to welcome Protein Sciences to the Empire State and look forward to a long and successful partnership.”
