Pfizer Plans Biomedical Research Center in La Jolla

Pfizer Inc., the nation’s largest drug maker, said Wednesday that it will build a major biomedical research campus in La Jolla where more than 1,000 scientists will work on drug discovery.

The Pfizer La Jolla site will be built on the current facilities of Agouron Pharmaceuticals, which Pfizer acquired in June 2000.

The campus eventually will include eight buildings and 800,000 square feet of space, representing an investment of $155 million, a spokesman said.

Pfizer Chief Executive Hank McKinnell said La Jolla was a logical extension of the company’s research capabilities, which includes large facilities in England, Connecticut and Michigan.

“The piece that was missing was the West Coast,” McKinnell said. “Here in Agouron we have the base on the West Coast that we really wanted. I see it as a magnet to attract the kind of people we need to succeed in this business.”

The pharmaceutical industry spends nearly $35 billion a year in California on research, manufacturing and more, said Perry Communications Group, a health care public relations firm.

But Pfizer La Jolla represents the first time that a major company has created its own presence in the state through acquisition and expansion, Perry Group said.

Ronald D. White