RALEIGH – Gilead Sciences in California, which makes the COVID-19 treatment brake desivir, announced Tuesday that it plans to open a major hub in the Triangle.
The move will pay 275 jobs, paying an average wage of $ 142,175 to Wake County. The average annual wage in Wake County is about $ 63,500.
The Gilead Business Services Center will include the company’s human resources, procurement and financial services operations, along with cyber security and other roles in information technology.
“We look forward to introducing Gilead to the local community,” Gilead CFO Andrew Dickinson said in a statement. “We are eager to welcome many of the highly talented, highly skilled people living in the Research Triangle region to work with us, while we want to promote new medicine for people with medical needs that are not being met.”
‘They are shifting a lot of their industry roles to our market, and that’s a good indication of our ability to grow our life science market here. We are not just recruiting scientists and manufacturers, ”said Ashley Cagle, assistant executive director of Wake County Economic Development. “It is a reminder that good things are happening in our community even though we are struggling with a global pandemic.”
Wake County was selected above Atlanta for the facility, with the company citing the availability, diversity and cost of talent to fill the promised positions.
“Clearly, we want businesses that respond to the pandemic to thrive, and we’re glad they can do it here,” said Matt Calabria, chairman of the Wake County Board of Commissioners.
Calabria linked the local economic impact of Gilead to $ 39 million a year.
“We are always happy to catch such a big fish,” he said.
Another factor in favor of the Triangle: Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill helped develop brake derivatives.
The company will receive approximately $ 10 million in tax incentives through an investment development grant, which withholds a portion of the state’s tax if the annual job creation and investment objectives are met. Vocational training will also be provided.
Gilead plans to invest about $ 5 million in the creation of the center. The new jobs will be created by 2023.
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