Watson plans to establish Global R&D Technology Center in North Brunswick

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: WPI) today announced plans to establish a Global R&D Technology Center in North Brunswick, New Jersey.  The Company has signed a lease for a 32,000-square-foot facility at the New Jersey Economic Development Authority's Technology Centre of New Jersey, a 50-acre complex consisting of lab, production and office space. Watson intends to initially invest approximately $4.5 million in outfitting the new facility.

The Company plans to immediately retrofit approximately 19,000 square feet of space for product development and analytical laboratories.  The remaining 13,000 square feet will accommodate future expansion.  The facility, which is expected to be completed in the spring of 2012, will employ approximately 50 scientists, chemists, engineers and support staff. 

"Watson is pleased to continue to work with Governor Chris Christie, Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno and the Partnership for Action team as we expand our presence in New Jersey," said Paul Bisaro, President and CEO of Watson.  "The location of the new Global R&D Technology Center will enable Watson to leverage our proximity to such educational centers of excellence as Rutgers University. This will enable Watson to establish collaborations with University departments including pharmaceutics, chemistry and engineering and permit us to benefit from the talent pool in the heart of the pharmaceutical industry of New Jersey. 

"This new center will become Watson's state-of-the-art facility for developing generic pharmaceutical products, in particular for inhalation technology and respiratory products, with the ability to conduct formulation development and analytical testing. In addition, in line with Watson's commitment to Quality by Design of pharmaceutical products this center will focus on process analytical technology, packaging development, pharmaceutical technology, inhalation technology and new technology evaluation. We are proud to continue our growth in the Garden State, and to benefit from the quality of life and quality and commitment of the local talent pool," Bisaro continued.

In early 2010 Watson relocated its global corporate headquarters to Parsippany, NJ, in a facility designed to support its global expansion and ultimately employ as many as 500 people.  In the new, 149,000-square-foot Parsippany facility, Watson combined senior management and global generics and brands administrative functions previously in separate facilities in the Morristown and Parsippany, NJ area, as well as relocated remaining corporate leadership functions including Finance and Legal functions that had previously been located at Watson's Corona, California site, into a larger space that enabled the Company to more efficiently manage its growing global generic and brand pharmaceutical and biologics businesses around the world.

"Watson's decision to further expand in New Jersey shows the Christie-Guadagno strategy to attract business, rebuild New Jersey's economy and create jobs is working," said Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno.  "Strengthening the state's competitive position in the life sciences is a priority, and the commitment by a global pharmaceutical leader like Watson is proof that companies are finding New Jersey increasingly attractive."

Through advocacy and business incentives, the New Jersey Partnership for Action helped to encourage Watson to choose New Jersey for its new R&D facility.  The Partnership is a three-pronged public-private approach to economic development that includes the Business Action Center, which reports directly to Lt. Governor Guadagno and provides the business community with a single point of contact, applying a proactive, customer-service approach to businesses' interactions with state government, Choose New Jersey, an independently funded and operated 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation created to encourage and nurture economic growth throughout the state, and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, which serves as the state's "bank for business."

Watson was represented in the transaction by the Cushman & Wakefield team of Executive Director John Minervini and Senior Director Ron Ganter, while Jones Lang LaSalle Senior Vice President Jim Medenbach represented the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

With its new location at the Technology Centre of New Jersey complex, Watson joins such prestigious companies as Merial Limited, Chromocell Corporation and Rutgers Technology Center II — home to WINLAB and Energy Storage Research Group. The complex also includes the Commercialization Center for Innovative Technologies, which houses 22 emerging technology companies and is one of only 23 business incubation programs from around the world that have earned the Soft Landings International Incubator designation from the National Business Incubation Association.