Unilife Medical Solutions Limited (Unilife), a safety medical device maker, has accepted a $5.2 million offer of assistance from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to support the creation of 241 new jobs within York County.
The offer of assistance from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania accepted by Unilife includes access to the following programs:
An award of $2 million for the development of a new facility in South-Central Pennsylvania under the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP);
Up to $2 million in low-interest financing loans for land and building acquisition and construction costs from the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA);
A $500,000 Opportunity Grant, which may be used for any eligible costs associated with a company project;
$482,000 in Job Creation Tax Credits for the creation of 241 highly-skilled jobs by 2013, which can be applied to the company’s Pennsylvania Corporate Net Income Tax obligations; and
$200,000 in Customised Job Training Grants, which reimburse 75% of eligible costs associated with advanced level training for new or existing employees.
These funds will be used to support Unilife’s establishment as a US-based global leader in the design, development and supply of innovative safety medical devices for use within US and international pharmaceutical and healthcare markets. Over the last 12 months, Unilife has moved toward this goal by relocating key commercial and operational functions from Australia to its FDA registered manufacturing facilities in Lewisberry, Pennsylvania. The company has effectively doubled its size during this period with 87 staff now employed at its Lewisberry facility.
The company recently announced steps to further accelerate its rate of business expansion within the US, and, in particular, Central Pennsylvania These expansion plans include the proposed redomiciliation of Unilife from Australia to the US, listing of the company on NASDAQ and the establishment of a major new global headquarters and manufacturing facility within Central Pennsylvania, which is evolving as a global centre for pharmaceutical and medical device development.
The RACP and PIDA funds committed from the Commonwealth will be used to develop the new Unilife facility in York County, Pennsylvania. The facility will support anticipated demand from pharmaceutical companies and other healthcare industry leaders for Unilife’s range of ready-to-fill and clinical safety syringes, with production capacity of the ready-to-fill syringe expected to exceed 450 million units per year beyond 2014.
The 241 positions expected to be created at the facility will help drive this business expansion, and include a range of highly-skilled roles including the production, validation, marketing and supply of Unilife’s current and pipeline products.