Pfizer will strengthen its presence in St. Louis County in a new state-of-the-art facility for its R&D and process development operations. The decision is expected to create more than 80 jobs and retain more than 450 employees in the region.

“This is one of the biggest business investments in St. Louis County history with more than $200 million dollars being spent on this facility,” St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger said. “Securing this was a very competitive process. Company leaders tell us St. Louis County’s excellent quality of life and our willingness to work closely with Pfizer over many years helped us win this project. We greatly look forward to the groundbreaking and grand opening.”

Pfizer, headquartered in New York, has been operating in St. Louis County for more than 13 years. The company has R&D labs, office space and manufacturing operations in two locations in St. Louis County where it focuses on biotherapeutics and vaccine development. CRG and Clayco will build the new facility and lease it to Pfizer.

“Missouri is an important part of Pfizer’s R&D network, and we’re proud of the world-class employee base we’ve built here,” Pfizer Senior Vice President of BioTherapeutics Research John Ludwig said. “Thanks to the support we’ve received from the state of Missouri, St. Louis County and Chesterfield, our new St. Louis laboratory facility will provide the right location and space as we continue to evolve our business over the coming years.”

Construction of the state-of-the-art facility is expected to begin in 2017. It will be designed to develop biotherapeutic molecules such as vaccines, immune-oncology therapies, monoclonal antibodies and biosimilars in the therapeutic areas of vaccines, oncology, inflammation and immunology. Once the new building in Chesterfield is complete, Pfizer will bring employees from two sites and multiple buildings under one roof for these operations.

The new site will situate Pfizer in an optimal location and offer ample space to keep pace with the evolution of its business over the coming years. The company’s new facility will strengthen its position in St. Louis County where it currently employs more than 450 scientists, researchers and other professionals.

“Pfizer’s decision to open its new facility in St. Louis County is a great enhancement to our already strong reputation as a leader in the biomedical sector,” St. Louis Economic Development Partnership CEO Sheila Sweeney said. “The pharmaceutical sector is important to our local economy, and the Partnership is focused on industries that are growing here in the fields of biomedical, agricultural technology and information technology.”

This announcement comes as several other global bioscience and pharmaceutical companies have invested and added new jobs in St. Louis County, including Express Scripts, Virbac and Pantheon.

To assist with Pfizer’s new facility, St. Louis County, along with the State of Missouri, offered a strategic economic incentive package that the company can receive if it meets specific job creation criteria.