US contract manufacturer unveils $17.5m expansion
$17.5m (€13.7m) investment to double the size of its drug testing
and manufacturing plant over the next three years.
The twelve-year old company, which provides services including drug development, clinical trial materials, method development and validation, stability testing, raw materials, trace metals and microbiology, has quickly outgrown the current 48,300-square-foot facilities it has occupied in North Carolina since 2000 after a period of rapid growth.
Outsourcing such functions has become popular among biopharma firms who want to cut costs and infrastructure or gain extra capacity in their drug manufacturing.Metrics's expansion will include the addition of 47,000 square feet of space to cater for new production areas, analytical laboratories, warehouse space, stability storage and microbiology labs, as well as the addition of 77 new jobs to its existing staff of 250.
To help fund the expansion, Metrics will receive various tax credits and government incentives, including a $150,000 One North Carolina Fund grant - awarded to businesses as a financial incentive to create jobs.
It has been reported that new workers at the site will receive an average of $1,000 per week.
"Our decision to expand at our current location was based on the quality of the local employees and investors we have been fortunate to attract," said Metrics CEO Phil Hodges.
North Carolina has been ranked third in the nation for its biotech and life sciences industry for the past three years in a row by Ernst & Young.