Abbott (NYSE:ABT) announced yesterday that it plans to spend close to $38 million to open a manufacturing plant for its Mitraclip system in Westfield, Ind.
The proposed 120,000-square-foot facility in Westfield’s NorthPoint Industrial Park could cost more than $37.6 million and is slated to employ as many as 477 people by the end of 2024, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal. The company expects construction to begin this year and plans to have the facility fully functioning by 2021.
The MitraClip is a transcatheter heart valve repair device designed to treat mitral regurgitation. It secured its first FDA approval in 2013 and won FDA approval for its most advanced version, the MitraClip G4, in August. Indiana will join California as the second state to manufacture the device when the facility is completed.
Jobs at the new facility are expected to include assemblers, technicians and engineers with an average wage of $27 per hour.
The IBJ reported that Abbott conducted an internal search before choosing the location, and the Westfield City Council approved 10-year real and personal property tax abatements for the company last night.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. offered up to $3.5 million in conditional tax credits along with $1 million in training grants because of Abbott’s intention to create more than 300 jobs before 2024 ends. The incentives are contingent upon Abbott meeting the hiring marks. IEDC’s offer of up to $750,000 to improve infrastructure in the area is under consideration.
“We’re pleased to expand our U.S. presence by building an additional MitraClip manufacturing facility in Indiana,” VP of Abbott’s structural heart business Mike Dale said in prepared remarks. “This facility will help in our goal to improve the health of people around the world and meet the needs of physicians and patients battling structural heart disease,”
“This is a great day for the city of Westfield,” added Mayor Andy Cook. “We have worked hard to attract diverse businesses. The addition of a Fortune 500 life sciences company, like Abbott, is a big win not only for Westfield but for the state of Indiana.”
Shares of ABT were up 0.5% at 83.08 per share in mid-morning trading today.
