Company news

Covance Inc. is seeking state and local tax incentives as part of a $150 million expansion that would create 465 jobs at its Greenfield operations, nearly doubling the number of employees there. The proposed expansion would occur over the next four years and include the construction of a new laboratory, the renovation of existing buildings, and the hiring of administrative and laboratory personnel, according to the Daily Reporter in Greenfield. Princeton, N.J.-based Covance, a pharmaceutical research company, acquired Greenfield Labs from Eli Lilly and Co. in October 2008 for $50 million and a 10-year agreement from Lilly to use Covance’s services. At that time, 264 Lilly employees shifted to Covance. The company now employs 565 workers at the site, according to the newspaper. The Hancock County Council is set to hear Covance’s request for incentives July 11. Documents filed with the county show the 465 jobs would add $29 million in salaries with annual pay averaging more than $62,000 per employee, the Daily Reporter said. The company uses the Greenfield Laboratories to conduct early-stage tests of experimental drug molecules, readying them for tests in humans.

Officials from Indiana University Health Arnett broke ground on a facility in West Lafayette last week, according to the Journal and Courier of Lafayette. The new location, housed in a former Kmart store, will add outpatient imaging and expanded laboratory services to IU Health’s existing services in West Lafayette. The $8 million facility also will include an urgent care center with extended hours of operation. Indianapolis-based IU Health operates a full-scale hospital in Lafayette.

Dr. Yang Sun, an assistant professor of ophthalmology at the Glick Eye Institute, received a five-year, $1 million grant from the National Eye Institute to study congenital glaucoma with the hope of discovering new treatments for common forms of glaucoma. “Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness in the world, yet the mechanisms of glaucoma development remain poorly understood, and treatments are limited,” Sun said. “I’m hoping to understand the mechanism of inherited congenital glaucoma, in the hopes that this will provide insight and potentially lead to novel treatments for commonly seen forms of glaucoma.”