Cheshire drug maker Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. will add 44 “well-paid” jobs at its Smithfield, R.I., production plant as part of an expansion, The Providence Journal reports.
Spokesman Irving Adler confirmed Monday’s groundbreaking was underway at the Rhode Island plant, where that state’s governor was among dignitaries slated to attend, the paper said Monday on its Web site.
The plant where Alexion’s sole drug, Soliris, for treating a rare form of anemia is made and bottled currently employs 125. The drug maker also is testing Soliris to treat other ailments.
Alexion has another 300 or so workers in Cheshire.
The company bought the Smithfield facility in 2006, opened it in 2007 and won approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for it to be the second facility where the company produces the drug.
