Lilly sells New Jersey lab for $50 million

Indianapolis -- Eli Lilly and Co. said it has reached an agreement to sell its Greenfield Laboratories in New Jersey to Covance Inc. for $50 million.

In the deal, Lilly said it would provide drug developer Covance with $1.6 billion in business for at least 10 years, The Indianapolis Star reported Wednesday.

Covance said it planned to double or triple the workforce at the 80-year old laboratory. All 260 of Lilly's workers on the site who work in drug development would be offered comparable jobs with the lab's new owner, Covance said.

"We want to build that Greenfield site into a world-class facility," Joe Herring, chairman and chief executive officer of Covance, told the Star.

Another 225 Lilly employees from Greenfield will be offered Lilly positions in Indiana, the newspaper reported Wednesday.

In addition, Lilly said it will move Elanco, its animal health division, from the Greenfield to a new facility in Hancock County, Ind., by 2010, the Star reported.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.