Talecris picks Clayton

The Triangle's largest biotechnology company has chosen its massive Clayton plant to expand production and add hundreds of jobs in coming years.

Executives at Talecris Biotherapeutics are expected to announce the decision Friday morning at a news conference in Clayton with Gov. Bev Perdue and other officials.

CEO Lawrence Stern previously said that the company was considering Clayton for expansion, but it also was looking at other locations.

The state typically offers tax breaks and grants only when a company threatens to add jobs elsewhere, and Talecris is expected to receive an aid package from North Carolina, Johnston County and the town of Clayton.

Stern and government officials declined to discuss details or the timing of a possible Talecris expansion or incentives.

"We've been selected for something big," said Clayton Mayor Jody McLeod, who added that he couldn't comment further until Friday's official announcement. "There's a lot going on in Clayton, and there's more to come."

The Clayton Area Chamber of Commerce sent an e-mail message encouraging its members to turn out for Perdue's "major announcement regarding economic development."

Talecris will be the latest big company planning to add jobs locally.

Within the past few months, Cree, Deutsche Bank and EMC are among the corporations announcing plans to add hundreds of high-paying jobs in the Triangle. EMC and Deutsche Bank were lured partly by the promise of millions in state and local incentives, a practice that critics attack as corporate handouts.

But the potential for new jobs comes as other large employers continue to shed workers.

The state's unemployment rate, at 10.8 percent, remains above the national average of 10.2 percent.

Talecris, which employs 4,700 worldwide, is adding workers to keep up with increasing demand for its medicines made from blood plasma.

Its drugs, produced by more than 1,500 people at the company's Clayton plant, are used to treat various genetic and chronic illnesses. Its biggest product is Gamunex, which is used to treat a type of immune deficiency and other diseases.

"We're embarking on a continued evolution to help us expand our output for patients," Stern said in an interview this week after the company reported strong third-quarter sales and profit.

Talecris, based in Research Triangle Park, was formed in 2005 when two investment firms bought Bayer's blood-plasma business. Bayer opened its Clayton drug factory in 1974.

Johnston's biotech hub

Since then, that plant along U.S. 70 has become part of a large cluster of biotech and drug making. A nearby Novo Nordisk factory packages insulin and employs about 400 people, and a Hospira facility has more than 300 workers who make generic injectable drugs and other products.

In 2005, Johnston Community College opened a center that trains up to 200 workers a year interested in biotech and pharmaceutical careers. The Workforce Development Center is now helping train about 600 Talecris workers while the company's Clayton plant is shut down for maintenance and upgrades, said center director Joy Callahan.

The center also will help train many of the new workers Talecris plans to hire, she added. "We're really excited about what's coming to Clayton."

Stock market debut

Talecris' new owners recently turned to Wall Street to raise about $1.7 billion to repay debt and strengthen its financial health.

Its stock began trading publicly on Oct. 1 after one of the largest and most successful IPOs this year. Now the company plans to spend up to $750million over the next five years to increase its capacity and develop new products.

The first stage of that expansion will be a $280 million facility to separate proteins in blood plasma that are used to make medicine. That project will take several years to open, a process that will require approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

By building that facility in Clayton, where Talecris is already the biggest water and sewer customer, the company effectively is choosing the location for later stages of expansion.

That's expected to include a $120 million facility to produce an experimental drug to treat clots.