Abbott Laboratories has developed a new blood screening system it believes will allow the company to crack an untapped market segment with the help of expanded manufacturing and research and development facilities in the Dallas-Fort Worth and Chicago areas.
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How the company plans to divide its $500M investment among the sites isn't yet known, but the Dallas Business Journal reported Abbott plans to add 100 jobs at its Irving facility and 200 jobs at its headquarters in Lake County, Illinois, in the coming years.
Abbott's Irving property now spans about 532K SF, about 70% of the company's total DFW footprint. Its Chicago-area headquarters campus encompasses more than 20M SF.
The expanded facilities are expected to “go live” by the end of the year, Abbott Laboratories Chairman and CEO Robert Ford said during the company's first-quarter earnings call Wednesday.
The company’s new technology is said to be able to detect diseases that could contaminate blood donations, allowing Abbott to enter the market’s molecular nucleic acid testing segment.
The medical technology company has around 2,000 employees in DFW, with more than two-thirds of those working out of its facility at 1915 Hurd Drive, where the planned expansion will occur, per DBJ.
Abbott reported Q1 sales were up nearly 4% over last year to more than $10.3B. Tariffs impacted the company, but Ford said Abbott is prepared to handle them going forward.
“While tariffs will have a financial impact, with 90 manufacturing sites around the world and decades of experience executing our global network strategy, we're well-positioned to implement mitigations to help manage the impact of the tariffs,” he said during the call.
The expansions will be a shot in the arm for the life sciences markets in DFW and Chicago.
The life sciences market in DFW is growing, but the region still trails heavy hitters like Boston and San Francisco. Chicago’s life sciences market has a glut of available space and a tough capital market that has made it tricky for tenants to sign leases.
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