Quintiles Transnational Corp. recently announced that it will expand its presence in Cobb County, Ga., which will become its headquarters for worldwide laboratory operations. Quintiles, one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical development companies, will invest $19 million in the expansion, retaining 450 jobs and creating 400 new high-level ones through 2011.

Quintiles will consolidate its Global Central Laboratories in Smyrna and its Clinical Development Services (CDS) office in Atlanta within a single structure in Marietta, more than doubling its current space to accommodate the expansion. Renovation of the former AT&T building located at Terrell Mill Road and Interstate 75 is expected to begin in August 2007. The first groups of employees are scheduled to move during the second quarter of 2008.

“The increasing demand for our CDS and laboratory services is driving us to expand existing operations and open new ones around the world,” said Dennis Gillings, CBE, Chairman and CEO of Quintiles Transnational. “By expanding our Global Central Laboratories and partnering with Georgia’s excellent research facilities, we will improve coordination and efficiency for our customers, a critical part of growing our business.”

The Cobb Chamber of Commerce and the county’s Economic Development Office partnered with Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) staff, including Commissioner Ken Stewart and Project Manager Carol Henderson, to assist the company with its expansion. Other partners include the Georgia Research Alliance, the Georgia Cancer Coalition and the Georgia Center for Oncology Research and Education (Georgia CORE).

Quintiles’ decision to enlarge its assets in Georgia adds to the state’s flourishing credentials in life sciences. Earlier this month, UCB, one of the world’s foremost biopharmaceutical companies, announced a $5 million expansion of its U.S. subsidiary’s headquarters, also located in Cobb County.

Georgia is ranked seventh in the U.S. for the number of bioscience companies located in the state, and its life sciences industry has expanded at a rate three times faster than other industry sectors. Georgia’s research facilities encourage collaboration between the industry and universities like Emory, Georgia Tech and the Medical College of Georgia.

Partners such as the Georgia Research Alliance, the Georgia Biomedical Partnership and the Advanced Technology Design Center help attract and retain intellectual capital in the state. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Cancer Society and the Arthritis Foundation are all headquartered in the metro Atlanta region of Georgia. Pharmaceuticals leaders Merial, Solvay and Ciba Vision are well-established entities in Georgia.

Quintiles Laboratories owns a network of facilities in the U.S., Europe, South Africa, China, India and Singapore, and has tightly controlled sub-contractor laboratories in Argentina and Brazil managed by Quintiles employees located in each facility.

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