By Joshua Burd
Teva Pharmaceuticals will move its U.S. headquarters to Parsippany from Pennsylvania, Gov. Phil Murphy said Thursday, bringing nearly 850 jobs and a commitment to occupy nearly 350,000 square feet.
The Israel-based generics company is relocating its main U.S. operations from North Wales, Pennsylvania, as part of a plan to consolidate its operations and create efficiencies within its footprint. Murphy said Teva, which currently has space at 400 Interpace Pkwy. in Parsippany, is now slated to expand to about 345,000 square feet.
The news follows a 10-year, $40 million tax credit approved by the state Economic Development Authority last month that was meant to encourage Teva to make the move. The award is performance-based requires Teva to deliver on its investment and employment commitments for 15 years.
“The presence of global life sciences companies like Teva Pharmaceuticals is critical to New Jersey’s ability to strengthen a thriving innovation ecosystem,” Murphy said. “We are thrilled to expand our welcome to Teva, and its more than 1,000 employees, in the Garden State — the place to be for the world’s most competitive life sciences companies.”
Teva now expects to create 843 jobs and retain 232 existing positions in New Jersey, Murphy said. The median annual wage associated with the positions is $128,073.
“While Teva will retain a significant presence in Pennsylvania, reducing the number of sites supports our drive to continue to improve productivity and efficiencies,” said Brendan O’Grady, executive vice president and head of North America commercial. “We’re pleased to expand our presence in New Jersey, having closer proximity to a vibrant business hub and a dynamic life sciences environment—all while increasing jobs and preserving many existing roles.”
Teva USA was considering an alternative site in Frazer, Pennsylvania, about 25 miles from its current headquarters outside Philadelphia, under a plan that includes several other sites in the Keystone State. An analysis by the EDA found New Jersey to be the more expensive option and said the move would involve a capital investment of nearly $31.5 million.
The authority also said the project in Parsippany would have an estimated net benefit to the state of $247.4 million over 20 years.
“Nurturing the growth of strategic industry clusters is central to Governor Murphy’s mission of reclaiming New Jersey’s leadership in the innovation economy and strengthening the state’s economic competitiveness,” said Tim Sullivan, the authority’s CEO. “Teva’s long-term commitment to New Jersey is the latest evidence of the enduring strength of our life sciences industry and New Jersey’s value proposition to the world’s leading companies.”
The proposed site, 400 Interpace Pkwy, is a 541,000-square-foot complex near the intersection of interstates 80 and 287. Real estate investor P3 Properties acquired the former Morris Corporate Center III late last year and has since rebranded it as MCCBLUE, as part of a multimillion-dollar upgrade of the four-building campus.
P3 said at the time that Teva was an existing tenant at MCCBLUE.