Ipsen To Expand in U.S.

Ipsen plans to expand its commitment, investment and commercial presence in the U.S. market through a series of moves. The company will make a multi-million dollar capital investment in its Milford, MA R&D and technical operations facility, and will relocate U.S. Operations headquarters from Brisbane, CA, to Bridgewater, NJ, in order to enhance the North American commercial organization.

The existing 77,000-sq.-ft. Milford facility serves as a center for Ipsen’s U.S.-based peptide and toxin R&D platforms, as well as a cGMP manufacturing facility focused on production of recombinant proteins for the treatment of hemophilia. The expansion and renovation capital investment project, currently in the design phases, will deliver a new, three-story, 62,000-sq.-ft. building while completely renovating one of the site’s two existing buildings. Groundbreaking is anticipated for mid-2012, with construction of the new building targeted for completion in early 2014. The new facility will house R&D and Process Sciences laboratories that support Ipsen’s strategic objectives to deliver five NMEs and three POCs by 2015. The site has a staff of 150 employees, including chemists, biologists, translational science experts and a full technical operations team.

The company will also move the HQ of its U.S. subsidiary, Biomeasure, to Bridgewater, NJ. The move is in line with the company’s increased strategic focus on two key products: Somatuline Depot and Dysport. The new HQ has 30,000 sq. ft. and it under a six-and-a-half-year lease. The company expects to hire more than 100 employees, including many members of its developing executive team, who will work from the Bridgewater, NJ location. Bridgewater operations are expected to begin by April 2012.

“New Jersey is the leading biopharmaceutical center in the U.S., and Ipsen is ready and eager to be a part of that community of innovators,” said Sean McKercher, president and general manager, Ipsen North America. “This move was a natural choice for Ipsen, given New Jersey’s ready access to international travel hubs, deep pool of pharma talent and business incentives for the biopharma sector — and it reflects our commitment to champion medicines for patients with severely debilitating diseases in need of therapeutic options.”