Centocor Inc., a biotechnology company based in Malvern, Pa. will invest $240 million in the Netherlands, according to Allison B. Turner, area director of the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency’s Atlanta office.
“This is the largest project undertaken by our office since we opened in 2001,” Ms. Turner told GlobalFax in a recent telephone interview. “Factors that helped cement the deal (in the Netherlands) were its hub location, quality of labor force and support from local economic development officials.”
Last month, construction began on the new facility in Leiden, the Netherlands, where the company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, will produce Remicap150, an arthritis drug for worldwide distribution.
Ms. Turner said that Burke MarketGrowth International Ltd., a local international marketing firm, was responsible for finding the lead. The company has experience in assisting foreign investment organizations recruit U.S companies overseas.
The Atlanta office, with a staff of two trade and investment professionals, is responsible for assisting U.S. companies expanding or restructuring their European operations and covers the states of Alabama, District of Columbia, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Virginia.
NFIA chose to move its office to Atlanta from New York to better serve their major clients located in the southeastern region.
Atlanta was selected over Washington and Raleigh/Durham, N.C., because of the presence of an international community, diverse mix of industrial businesses and direct flights to Europe from Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport.
For more information, contact Ms. Turner at (770) 933-6275 or go to www.nfia.com.