British pharmaceutical maker to open first U.S. manufacturing facility in Birmingham; create 200 jobs as part of $29 million investment

gov bently presenting

Gov. Robert Bentley giving the keynote address at the 2014 Birmingham Business Alliance Governor’s Luncheon.

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BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – A British pharmaceutical company will open its first manufacturing center in 2016 in Birmingham, Gov. Robert Bentley confirmed at theBirmingham Business Alliance 2014 Governor’s Luncheon.

Oxford Pharmaceuticals is expected to have 61 employees when it opens and 200 within 10 years. Jobs will range in pay from about $12 an hour to more than $100. The company’s investment will total $29 million.

Bentley, along with Mayor William Bell and Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens, made the announcement at The Club Tuesday.

Oxford will manufacture generic drugs in Birmingham and sell them worldwide. Oxford was founded in Oxford, England, and will be based in Birmingham.

The company will initially receive free rent from the Innovation Depot until its facility is ready, and the city and county will provide additional incentives.

“It’s going to help them have a soft landing,” Bentley said.

Birmingham is expected to provide cash and infrastructure incentives, pending approval from the City Council. Nearly $5 million in incentives are pending approval.

The facility will sit on more than 20 acres at the Jefferson Metropolitan Park at Lakeshore, at 301 Leaf Lake Drive. The facility will be about 120,000 square feet.

Oxford’s incentives will also involve collaboration with the Birmingham Business Alliance, Alabama Department of Commerce, AIDT and the Jefferson County Economic Industrial Development Authority.

Birmingham’s Robins & Morton is the general contractor on the project, Huntsville’s NOLA/Van Peursem Architects is the architect and Birmingham’s Sain & Associates will provide engineering services.

“We want to welcome Oxford Pharmaceuticals here as a new stakeholder, and as a cornerstone of what we hope to become a new industry in Jefferson County,” Stephens said.