Opportunities to Invest in Puerto Rico as Global Center for Bio...( 25% of world's biological manufa...),Health

25% of world's biological manufacturing capacity is in Puerto Rico

MEXICO CITY, Feb. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- A quarter of the world's biotechnology manufacturing capacity is located in Puerto Rico, making it one of the largest concentrations in the world.

Over the past four years, more than $4 billion has been invested in biotechnology in Puerto Rico by such giants as Eli Lilly, Amgen, Abbot, Ortho Biologics, BD Biosciences and Bristol Myers Squibb. The Puerto Rico Conference, Investment for Growth, organized by the Puerto Rico Chamber of Commerce, will feature a panel on The Biotech Island. Panelists will discuss the factors that are making the island so attractive for this type of investment.

The panelists will include Emilio Rivera, Vice-President of Manufacturing Operations of Amgen Puerto Rico, a company that has expanded twice in the past six years and invested $2 billion; Samuel Malone, President of Eli Lilly & Company Puerto Rico; and Edgardo Fabregas, Vice-President of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing at Johnson & Johnson and the person responsible for the corporation's manufacturing operation in Puerto Rico, Asia and Europe. Eli Lilly built the world's largest modular biotechnology facility in Puerto Rico, where it produces Humalog, recombinant human insulin for the treatment of diabetes.

The Puerto Rico Conference, to be held February 19 & 20 at the Hotel Ritz Carlton in San Juan, is aimed at presenting investment opportunities in Puerto Rico. "We organized the conference around the many areas of interest to investors in which Puerto Rico offers unique opportunities," said Francisco Rodriguez-Castro, organizer and Chair of the Conference. "The response so far has been very positive. We are getting a lot of interest from investors in the U.S. and Puerto Rico," he said. "Our mission is to showcase Puerto Rico's business sector and its many possibilities as we strengthen it with this type of event," said Jose Julian Alvarez, Chairm
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