Pennsylvania enticed syringe-maker Unilife Medical Solutions with nearly $2 million in tax breaks, training and equipment loans to move its corporate headquarters to Lewisberry in York County from Sydney, Australia in 2008. Unilife brought with it 43 employees and its state-of-the-art Ready-to-Fill-Syringe (RTFS), which allows the needle to be retracted into the glass vial of the syringe after use, which is safer and less bulky than other syringes that require clip on devices.
In 2009, the world's largest vaccine maker assured Unilife it would continue to grow and be quite busy in Pennsylvania when sanofi-aventis committed $30 million for an industrialization agreement to commercialize Unilife's RTFS. Unilife is investing $35 million in its infrastructure and capital equipment to supply 40 million units by the end of 2010 and up to 400 million units annually beyond 2014.
Unilife, which first arrived in Pennsylvania in 2006 when it acquired Integrative Biosciences, has taken on 35 mid- to top-tier managers since moving its headquarters here and another 150 employees are expected to join the company by the end of 2010. The company expects that number to double by 2015.