Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development, LLC (J&JPRD) began construction of a new building on its Spring House, PA campus that will add approximately 150,000 sq. ft. in new lab, clinical development and office space to its existing facilities. Once completed in 2009, the site will be the company’s East Coast hub for discovery research and early clinical development. J&JPRD will retain 680 existing jobs at the site, and plans to add another 120 jobs during the next three years.

“This expansion demonstrates our commitment to ongoing R&D as a key driver of our future success,” said Joseph C. Scodari, worldwide chairman pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson. “J&J is proud of its long heritage of pioneering research on this site. More than 15 major products were discovered or developed here, including several of our company’s major prescription medicines, such as Topamax, Ultram and Ultracet. We intend to continue building on that tradition for many more years to come.”

“This investment is a key component of our long term strategy to continue the sustained flow of innovative, high-quality compounds from our internal research,” said Paul Stoffels, M.D., company group chairman, pharmaceutical R&D, J&J. “The new facility will provide our East Coast team with state-of-the-art capabilities to accelerate drug discovery and early development programs, and continue our tradition of delivering new medicines and driving value for our patients.”