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July 13, 2006

Drug maker buys Smithfield plant; 80 new jobs planned

SMITHFIELD -- Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. said this morning that it has purchased the former Dow Chemical facility in Smithfield and plans to employ at least 80 people at the drug manufacturing plant.

The price was not disclosed.

The Connecticut-based company will produce Soliris, a drug for treating a genetic blood disorder, at the 55,000-square-foot plant. The company plans to retrofit the facility, which will start producing the biotechnology drug in 2008, according to a company statement released this morning.

Dow Chemical pulled out of the Smithfield facility in 2004 and put the drug manufacturing plant up for sale, as it changed its business plans. Earlier this decade, Dow had planned to build a $100-million drug-making plant next to the existing facility.

Alexion, (ALXN:Nasdaq) is a publicly traded bio-technology company founded by scientists at Yale University in 1992 and is preparing to manufacture its first drug. The 250 person company is still waiting for final approvals from government regulators in the U.S. and Europe for Soliris, according to the company's Web site.

Alexion will remain headquartered in Connecticut. The company lost $27.2 million in the first quarter of 2006 and reported $768,000 in revenue.

-- Journal staff writer Andrea L. Stape

Posted by Steve Peoples  at 7:38 AM | Permalink

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