Science in the Triangle

Medicago, the Canadian biotech company that announced Tuesday that it picked Research Triangle Park as its production base, plans to introduce vaccine making with a couple of twists to an area that’s home to three large vaccine plants by heavyweights Pfizer, Merck and Novartis.

Medicago’s facility is projected to cost $24 million and create 85 production jobs - small compared to the $300 million plant Novartis opened in 2009 in Holly Springs and the $400 million plant Merck completed two years ago north of Durham. The plant in Sanford that Pfizer bought last year as part of its $68 billion acquisition of Wyeth has been open since the late 1980s and employs about 450.

But then, the Medicago plant isn’t going to be like the other vaccine plants in the area. Read more…