Success Stories
A Peel Region Success Story
GlaxoSmithKline
Ontario is a leader in biomedical research, and the best is yet to come.
New investment means new jobs, and industry leaders like GlaxoSmithKline Inc. (GSK) are expanding their operations in Ontario.
In the 1990s, GSK – an international, research-based pharmaceutical company – produced just 200 different products in the Greater Toronto Area. Today, GSK employs approximately 850 people in Mississauga alone. The company’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility produces just under 1000 different products for over 120 markets around the world.
“If we had not built the new Mississauga facility, we would not have continued to experience the growth we have achieved in manufacturing,” said Sue West, Vice President, Global Manufacturing and Supply.
West credits the company’s heavy focus on pharmaceutical research and development as one of the reasons why they have come so far. In 2010 alone, GSK contributed over $121 million to Canadian pharmaceutical research and development, placing them among the top 15 investors in Canada last year.
And that’s not all. “We are very proud to have a manufacturing presence in Ontario, where we will continue to make products that allow people to do more, feel better and live longer,” said West.
Thanks to strategic planning and investments, including support from the Ontario government, GSK now has a $30-million plan to retrofit and expand its Mississauga facility, including bringing a new type of pharmaceutical manufacturing to Ontario.
The Mississauga plant will now manufacture products for heart disease and influenza, and will become a global supplier of dermatological and foam products.
Ontario is already one of the largest biomedical research centres in North America, with more than 900 biomedical companies employing more than 43,000 Ontarians.
The McGuinty Government plans to foster the growth of this sector by investing in companies that are investing in Ontario – companies like GSK.
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