[Ip-health] Drug companies closing manufacturing facilities in Puerto Rico as tax incentives expire

[mko]

>From the AP newswires:

<snip>

CIDRA, Puerto Rico (AP) - First to go was a factory that produced generic
drugs. Next, a pharmaceutical supply company said it would close. Then,
GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) (GSK) said last month it would shut its plant in
this central Puerto Rican city.  Many people in Cidra now fear their
hillside city, which has depended on pharmaceutical manufacturing for more
than 30 years, is terminally ill.

"This is going to be pretty bad for a lot of people," said Frank Ortiz, a
42-year-old construction worker sitting in a cafe near the gated
GlaxoSmithKline campus.

Cidra, a city of about 50,000, is not alone its sense of looming dread. The
pharmaceutical industry appears to be in retreat across Puerto Rico - long a
global hub of drug manufacturing thanks to tax breaks and the territory's
unfettered access to the U.S. market.

Over the past 18 months, five major drug manufacturing plants have either
closed or announced plans to do so, eliminating 3,000 relatively high paying
jobs. The closures are a largely a result of higher energy costs, changing
tax rules and industry consolidation.

Industry experts predict Puerto Rico is in danger of losing its position as
one of the top five global drug-making centers unless the island offers
better incentives and shifts more toward research as companies seek more
sophisticated production methods.


Full story:  http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071118/D8T09VN80.html