Booming Alexion breaks ground on $140M global HQ

Now that Alexion ($ALXN) has established its reputation for marketing new drugs for ultra-rare diseases with the success of Soliris, the most expensive drug on the planet, the fast-growing biotech has broken ground on an 11-story facility in downtown New Haven destined to become its new headquarters.

Alexion says it will relocate more than 400 staffers to the $140 million office complex now under construction in New Haven. And the state--which has been pouring resources into biotech in the wake of Pfizer's ($PFE) big downsizing in Groton--has agreed to chip in with $51 million in added assistance if the company can add 200 or 300 new jobs in the next few years.

"Our new global headquarters will support our continued growth as we work to develop and deliver life-transforming therapies for patients with severe and life-threatening disorders that are also ultra-rare," said Leonard Bell, the CEO of Alexion, in a statement. "We are especially pleased by this step because our return to New Haven is a homecoming for our company, and we are able to take part in the redevelopment of the downtown area."

Alexion has also been gaining ground on the R&D side of the business, hiring AstraZeneca ($AZN) castoff Martin Mackay to run research. The biotech also recently won the FDA's breakthrough drug title for asfotase alfa, an enzyme replacement therapy for extremely rare cases of a metabolic disease known as hypophosphatasia.

- here's the release
- read the story from the New Haven Register