NEW ALBANY, Ohio (WOWO) — Bayer plans to invest $2.2 billion to build a new pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in New Albany, bringing hundreds of permanent jobs and an estimated 1,500 construction jobs to central Ohio as the state works to expand its life sciences and biomanufacturing industri es. The German pharmaceutical company announced the project Thursday, with Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine calling it the largest international healthcare investment in state history and the largest German direct investment ever made in Ohio. The facility is expected to employ about 600 highly skilled workers once operational. DeWine said those positions will focus on manufacturing the compounds used in Bayer medicines. “This is an historic win for Ohio,” DeWine told the Ohio Capital Journal. Construction is expected to begin with a groundbreaking next year. Bayer expects manufacturing to begin in 2031, with a second production module for finished drug products scheduled to come online in 2034. Bayer CEO Bill Anderson said the facility is intended to strengthen the company’s ability to manufacture medicines for patients in the United States and overseas. “The new site will be home to manufacturing expertise and a skilled workforce that will strengthen our ability to deliver innovative, high-quality medicines to patients both in the United States and abroad,” Anderson said. The project will put Bayer’s new facility within a growing central Ohio life sciences corridor and near Ohio’s seven major research universities. Anderson said Bayer considered multiple locations before selecting New Albany but declined to identify the other finalists. He said the decision came down to a combination of available talent, access to medical and research institutions and cooperation from state and local officials. “We saw some really great sites, but the combination of the workforce, the proximity to important healthcare institutions, and research institutions, and frankly the attitude of everyone we worked with from JobsOhio, the state leaders, the federal leaders, it made a difference,” Anderson said. Anderson also said Bayer expects the workforce to be largely Ohio-based. “If we wanted people from someplace else, we would have gone there,” he said. The company’s investment is being announced as Ohio officials try to build a larger pipeline of workers trained for pharmaceutical manufacturing and biotechnology. A key piece of that effort is the Ohio Life Science Training Center in New Albany. The $30 million facility is expected to open next year and will train workers for careers in pharmaceutical biomanufacturing. Bayer’s planned production site will be roughly five miles from the training center. DeWine said the proximity could create a direct pathway from training into high-skilled manufacturing jobs. “In just a year, newly certified Ohioans will walk out of this training center, drive a few miles down the road, and go to work making the ingredients for medicines that will improve lives all over the world,” DeWine said. The project also is expected to expand connections between Bayer and Ohio’s higher education and research institutions. Ohio State University President Ravi Bellamkonda said in a statement that researchers at the university are looking forward to working with Bayer and that Ohio’s higher education institutions played an important role in attracting the investment. “We’re excited for Ohio State researchers to work alongside Bayer teams toward our shared goals,” Bellamkonda said. Bayer said the New Albany operation will be part of the company’s broader effort to expand its U.S. pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity. Anderson said Bayer’s prescription medicines have been used by approximately 4.5 million people in the United States over the past three years. “After a competitive global review, we’re happy to expand our production footprint here,” Anderson said. “We see a tremendous chance to build the biopharma ecosystem here and partner with your research institutions.” He added, “What’s next in medicine will go through you, New Albany, Ohio.” Bayer’s U.S. pharmaceutical headquarters is located in Whippany, New Jersey. The company also operates U.S. locations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Berkeley, California; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Research Triangle Park, North Carolina; and San Diego, California. New Albany already has attracted other companies involved in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, health technology and consumer health products. Among them are pharmaceutical manufacturer Amgen, telehealth company Hims Hers and vitamin maker Pharmavite. New Albany Mayor Sloan Spalding said Bayer’s decision reflects the community’s broader economic-development strategy. “We’ve created an environment where businesses grow, where people can find meaningful careers, and where economic development strengthens the community and the region for generations to come,” Spalding said. The Bayer announcement also adds another major corporate investment to a central Ohio region that has become a focus of national economic-development efforts. The area near New Albany is also home to Intel’s planned semiconductor manufacturing campus, one of the largest industrial projects in Ohio history. Intel’s project, however, has faced significant delays. The company originally expected its Ohio factories to begin production earlier, but manufacturing is now not expected to begin until at least 2030. Bayer’s project has a more immediate construction timeline, with groundbreaking expected in 2027 and initial pharmaceutical manufacturing targeted for 2031. Once fully developed, the Bayer site is expected to combine pharmaceutical manufacturing with a specialized workforce drawn heavily from Ohio’s growing life sciences and biomanufacturing talent pool. For state and local officials, the project represents both a major capital investment and an effort to establish central Ohio as a destination for pharmaceutical research, manufacturing and related industries. The post Bayer Selects Central Ohio for $2.2 Billion Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Facility appeared first on WOWO News/Talk 92.3 FM and 1190 AM. ...read more read less