OSI Pharmaceuticals to Consolidate U.S. Operations in Hudson Valley; Biotech Company Plans to Invest $95 Million in Westchester County Campus

( July 7, 2009 ) – OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced today plans to consolidate its U.S. operations into a single campus located in Ardsley, NY, a community located in Westchester County in the Hudson Valley.  The company has signed an agreement to purchase a 43-acre site, which consists of 400,000 square feet of existing office and laboratory space, for $27 million.

After an extensive site search in which it considered potential new locations in multiple states, OSI Pharmaceuticals expects to consolidate approximately 350 current U.S. employees from its facilities in Melville and Farmingdale, NY; Boulder, CO; and Cedar Knolls, NJ, at the new site in the second half of this year.  The consolidation will retain 200 jobs in New York State and create nearly 400 new jobs in the state by 2014.

The biotechnology company, which specializes in the discovery and development of innovative molecular targeted therapies for unmet medical needs, plans to invest over $95 million in the campus, previously home to Ciba-Geigy Corp. and Purdue Pharma.  OSI will renovate more than 250,000 square feet of its new space to create a central location for management, administration, R&D, and its pilot plant operations in the United States.    

OSI’s decision to relocate was made after determining that its business will flourish if its domestic locations are unified, creating an energy and synergy among scientists, particularly if it is among a cluster of biotech firms.  There are more than 200 academic research organizations, medical centers and laboratories located within the Hudson Valley.

“The past ten years has been a remarkable journey as the Company has successfully brought its first oncology product, Tarceva ®, to market and taken the business profitable,” stated Colin Goddard, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of OSI Pharmaceuticals.  “Nonetheless, we have recognized that we will only truly capture the full strategic value of our oncology franchise if we simplify our business by bringing together all the elements of our U.S operations onto a single site. 

“After an extensive and highly competitive process involving the exploration of options in multiple different states, we have identified a campus that will represent a first-rate facility for our company and provide for all foreseeable expansion needs over the next several years,” he continued.  “We are delighted that OSI will remain in New York State and we look forward to being an integral part of a growing cluster of quality biotech companies in Westchester County.”