With a first disbursement of 20 million euros, the Executive Committee of Johnson & Johnson has green-lighted the construction of a new pilot plant on the site of Janssen Pharmaceutica in Geel. The total investment for this Chemical Development Pilot Plant is 130 million euros.

In this plant, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) will be made, with a focus on products in the late phase of development (Phase III of clinical research). Through the use of new technologies and an environment that is adapted to future safety and quality standards, the new plant will play an important role in shortening development time, so that time to market for new medicines will be shortened.

The expertise of the Chemical Development group in Beerse, combined with the extensive arsenal of state-of-the-art technologies in Geel, were the tipping factors in the decision to build the plant in Belgium. Measures initiated by the Belgian government such as the reduced company withholding tax for researchers and fictitious interest have substantially improved the investment climate.

This investment will further strengthen the cooperation between Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development and the production site in Geel, which in turn will bolster the competitive position of Belgium in the pharmaceutical industry. The new plant will create some 50 jobs. The building itself will require about 500 man-years as regards suppliers.

The investment comes after previous hefty investments made by Johnson & Johnson in R&D on the Beerse site, in particular 60 million dollars for the Dr. Paul Janssen Research Center in October 2004 and 40 million dollars for the Drug Safety Evaluation Center in March 2005.

Commenting on the investment, Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt stated that “the Belgian government has taken a number of measures to improve the investment climate in Belgium, like notional interest and reduced company payroll tax for researchers.”

Ajit Shetty, managing director of Janssen Pharmaceutica, described the investment as a solid indication of the confidence that Johnson & Johnson has in Belgium. “In the past few years, we have systematically invested in new research buildings and new production facilities on the Belgian sites. But this is by far the biggest investment project that we have ever had. It confirms again the importance of the role of our company and of our country in the pharmaceutical sector.”

Dr. Paul Stoffels, company group chairman of Worldwide Research & Development for Johnson & Johnson, stressed the long-term significance of the investment: “This pilot plant is the link between research and production. The fact that it is now coming to Belgium is tantamount to embedding these activities in Beerse and Geel. Earlier this year we started up the production of anti-HIV/AIDS compounds, and we also closed a major deal with Vertex for the development, production and commercialization of one of the most promising hepatitis-C medicines. This is indeed a very important year for us.”

Janssen Pharmaceutica is a worldwide center of excellence for integrated R&D, production and general services in the Johnson & Johnson group. With a track record consisting of more than 80 medicines, the company is among the most innovative in the world and its products are available all over the globe.

Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development is one of the fastest growing worldwide companies in the pharmaceutical R&D sector and forms part of Johnson & Johnson, which is the most comprehensive and most widely represented group of healthcare companies in the world. With more than 3,500 employees behind them, our R&D activities are carried out in more than 70 countries throughout the world.