Sanofi-Aventis buys land for planned Tucson expansion
Summary:
Sanofi-Aventis, the world's third largest pharmaceutical company, has bought 11.5 acres in Tucson to expand its facilities.
Full Story:
Sanofi-Aventis, the world's third largest pharmaceutical company, has bought 11.5 acres in Tucson to expand its facilities.
The Paris-based firm plans to build a 100,000 square foot research and development facility that will triple the size of the company's current space in Oro Valley's Innovation Valley.
Employees are expected to move into the new building located at Rancho Vistoso Boulevard and Innovation Park Drive in 2008. Construction is set to begin in early 2007.
"We are planning to recruit maybe 20 more scientists over the next three to five years," Marc Greene, director of media relations for Sanofi-Aventis, told the Business Journal.
After a series of acquisitions and mergers, Sanofi-Aventis obtained the Tucson facilities in August 2004. Since then, it has run a technology center that was originally founded in 1990 by four University of Arizona professors as Selectide Corps. Chemists and biologists at the center collaborate to discover new medical compounds.
Sanofi-Aventis has about $30 billion in annual sales. Its top selling product is the blood-thinning drug, Plavix.
For more information:
"Big pharma expands in Tucson," Business Journal, 04/21/2006