GSK will strengthen and expands its vaccines presence in the US by establishing a global R&D centre in Rockville, Maryland.
The new centre will continue GSK’s effort to discover and develop novel vaccines across a range of pressing public health threats in the US and beyond. It will additionally consolidate vaccines R&D activities currently being conducted at other GSK sites, including those in Philadelphia and Cambridge, into one centralised location.
Luc Debruyne, president of GSK vaccines, commented: “As the global vaccines leader, GSK is on the cutting edge of vaccine development.
“Following the acquisition of Novartis’s global vaccines business and in recognition of the vaccines knowledge and expertise in the United States, we are pleased to expand our US presence with the creation of a world-class vaccines R&D centre. This will drive innovation, and enhance our capabilities for new vaccine discoveries that protect the US and public health around the world.”
The GSK site will become one of three global vaccines R&D centres, complementing the firm’s existing centres in Rixensart, Belgium and Siena, Italy.
The latter site was acquired by GSK from Novartis in March of this year as part of the companies’ major three-part transaction.
Larry Hogan, Maryland’s governor, added: “I am proud that a world-class pharmaceutical company like GSK has chosen to grow its US operations in Maryland. With key federal labs like the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health in our backyard, a highly-educated workforce and a critical mass of life sciences companies, Maryland offers GSK an excellent environment in which to grow and thrive.”