Teva USA to put HQ in Warrington

"Generic drug maker Teva Pharmaceuticals USA has decided to put a new headquarters and a massive distribution center in Warrington, Pa., ending year-long speculation about where the company will land.

Teva had entertained putting a new facility on the former Willow Grove Naval Air Station Base in Horsham, Pa. Instead it will locate a 1 million-square-foot site on a tract between Limekiln Pike and Lower State Road, according to a report published Friday on Phillyburbs.com. The site is near its current U.S. headquarters in North Wales, Pa.

A preliminary concept proposal shows a center on 156 acres near the Eureka Quarry, according to the report, which quoted township officials confirming the plan. About 500 employees will work from the new facility.

What, if any, state and local financial incentives Teva will receive couldn’t be determined.

A project of that size would cost an estimated more than $200 million in construction alone, with many more millions spent to outfit distribution space with sophisticated racking and conveyor systems needed to package Teva’s generic medicines.

The Willow Grove Naval Air Station emerged last year as a leading choice because the base is being shut down in a process that will be finalized by September 2011. Nearby residents worried about air traffic that the company would produce at the base.

Teva has a significant local presence. In addition to its U.S. headquarters in North Wales, which also houses a warehousing and distribution center, Teva has a large manufacturing and research facility in Sellersville, Pa., and offices in Horsham, Chalfont and Bryn Mawr, Pa. It has 1,500 employees in Bucks and Montgomery counties.

The company, a division of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. of Israel, markets more than 300 products in a variety of therapeutic areas and generates $11.1 billion in global sales.

Teva is scheduled to unveil its plans to the Warrington supervisors Jan. 26."