The drugmaker announced plans to close its 433-acre campus in Hopewell Township by 2020
HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP -- Pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb has announced plans to close its 433-acre campus in Hopewell Township by 2020, while adding to two of its other sites in central New Jersey.
The moves are part of a broader reshuffling of its research and manufacturing facilities across the country.
"The closure of Hopewell is really driven by our desire to co-locate our teams and really create a much more efficient and effective workstyle within those buildings," company spokeswoman Lisa McCormick Lavery said. "It simplifies the way we work and integrates teams."
Smaller offices will also be closing in Bloomsbury and on Carter Road in Hopewell, but the drugmaker's expansion plans include a 200,000-square-foot addition to its Lawrence campus on Route 206 and an addition to its New Brunswick campus.
Both additions are expected to be completed by 2020, Lavery said.
In November, Bristol-Myers opened a new 555,525-square-foot office building at the intersection of Princeton Pike and I-295 in Lawrence.
Elsewhere in the country, Bristol-Myers will be expanding its biologics campus in Devons, Mass., but closing facilities in Wallingford, Conn., and Seattle.
"We're really looking to bring together our teams to encourage collaboration, to really speed up the development and discovery of new medicine," Lavery said. "We deal with very serious diseases and time is of the essence. How do we group people together in a way that would accelerate the process and spur creativity and innovation?"
Company officials anticipate that most of the workers at its Hopewell, Wallingford and Seattle sites will be transferred to other facilities. The Hopewell campus employs about 1,250 people.
Lavery said Bristol-Myers will actively market its closing facilities and work with township and economic development officials to "explore all possible options."
The Hopewell site was purchased in 1997 for use as a research, data and administrative center. About a third of its land was set aside as an open-space easement.
For years, the company has been a charitable neighbor to the Hopewell Valley towns. It is a founding sponsor of the Lawrence-Hopewell Trail, providing more than $2 million in financial and in-kind support to the 22-mile bike and pedestrian loop.
Cristina Rojas may be reached at crojas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.