Pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb, headquartered in Princeton, announced Monday it has selected Houston as the site for its new $2.3 billion manufacturing facility that will create nearly 500 jobs to start in Texas, in addition to thousands of construction jobs.
The 600,000 square foot manufacturing facility will be modular and multi-modal, allowing BMS to configure capacity as needed and manufacture multiple types of medicines across a range of disease areas. The campus at Generation Park in Houston is designed for flexibility and long-term growth in scale, capability and workforce for decades to come, BMS said.
The selection of Houston is part of BMS’ $40 billion commitment to invest in domestic research, development and manufacturing over five years, the company said.
"This investment reflects our confidence in America's continued leadership in biopharmaceutical innovation,” said Christopher Boerner, Ph.D., board chair and CEO of Bristol Myers Squibb in a statement. “Houston and the state of Texas offer the talent, infrastructure, and partnership needed to help bring that vision to life."
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the $2.3 billion investment that BMS was making in Houston was a testament to the skilled workforce and pipeline of talent coming from leading technical colleges and research universities in Texas.
“With lower operating costs and easy access to markets across the U.S. and the world, Texas drives affordability for consumers,” Abbott said in a statement.
Texas’ pro-business environment, commitment to economic development and growing life sciences ecosystem make it an ideal home for an investment of this scale and ambition, the company said in its announcement.
BMS said it selected Generation Park following an extensive evaluation of multiple markets in central and eastern parts of the country. Key factors in the decision included the emerging strength of the local workforce in life sciences, available incentives, proximity to utilities and transportation infrastructure, and overall business climate conducive to long-term growth.
At 4,300 acres, Generation Park is a curated hub for life sciences and advanced manufacturing. BMS expects to employ about 500 people initially, with roles spanning operations technicians, production specialists, maintenance and engineering professionals, quality control and assurance experts and site leadership and administration.
BMS also expects to create approximately 2,000 construction and indirect jobs between 2027-2030 as the facility is built and brought online.
In June, Focus NJ published an analysis, Missed Opportunities, that calculated the growing economic impact of decisions by New Jersey-based companies that downsize their operations in the state, expand outside the state, or relocate operations outside the Garden State altogether because of the state's challenging business climate.
Focus NJ found that over the past decade or so, New Jersey has lost more than 7,000 jobs, nearly $675 million in annual payroll and approximately $27.3 million in annual income tax revenue because of these business decisions.
