Ipsen to Cut Ribbon on U.S. HQ in Basking Ridge

New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, top company executives from the U.S. and other officials are due to be on hand when a global pharmaceutical company, officially opens its new U.S. headquarters in Basking Ridge with a ribbon-cutting ceremony next Wednesday.

The company is moving its commercial operations into about 30,000 square feet at 106 Allen Road, reportedly with a lease of six years and a half years. A little more than 100 employees will occupy the North American headquarters, according to information from Ipsen.

Company officials said Ipsen's headquarters has been housed in temporary offices nearby in Bernardsville 

Ipsen announced that state officials will join the executive committee from Paris-based Ipsen, Ipsen North America company leadership team, company employees and representatives from biotech organizations and rare disease patient groups to recognize what was called a local-economy milestone. U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance, originally expected to attend, will not be at the ribbon-cutting, according to updated information on Thursday afternoon.

Guadagno, who has been in the Somerset Hills a number of times to show support for technical and scientific companies within New Jersey is due to be one of the speakers, along with Ipsen Chairman and CEO, Marc de Garidel, other French executives, and Sean McKercher, president and general manager for Ipsen North America.

McKercher said on Thursday morning that about 90 employees, or about 90 percent of recruitment from this area, already has been hired for the new headquarters location. He said the company officials have been impressed by the caliber of talent in this area. He added that some of those hired had come from larger pharma corporations, and are wanting to make more of a difference at a smaller biotech company.

Kemble on Wednesday said there will be no research and development facilities at the headquarters in Basking Ridge. However, McKercher said there will be some staff in Basking Ridge to help coordinate clinical trial research across the U.S.

Guadagno was in  last summer.

Next week, the company will be discussing Ipsen's expanding global presence and its commitment to meet the needs of neurological and endocrine disease communities by providing specialty-care expertise, said the announcement for the ribbon cutting.

The move was an effort to better streamline operations and part of a strategy to better grow specialty products and hire in New Jersey and nationally, according to information from the company last December and this week.

McKercher in December said Ipsen's corporate headquarters for the company is in Paris, having been started by a family that was based in France. And, he said, the company's U.S. headquarters was then in Brisbane, California, outside of San Francisco.

“We have nine time zone differences, which makes operating with the head office difficult,” he said. “We made the decision to relocate to the East Coast.”

He said then that the company would move into the office on Allen Road in April.

Ipsen is a global pharmaceutical company, McKercher said, specializing in endocrinology and neurology, and focusing on developing therapies for debilitating diseases. The fundamental driver for the company, he said, is through toxins and peptides.

McKercher said one of the company’s products is Dysport, which competes with Botox and uses similar properties for therapeutic applications, not cosmetic purposes.

When it came to deciding where to set up shop, McKercher said, the company looked in Massachusetts, near Boston since there is already another office there, and in New Jersey, approaching the states about tax incentives.

“And we did a review of all the resumes and candidates we have interviewed that we have wanted to hire but couldn’t because they wouldn’t relocate to California,” he said. “A high portion of those came from the Bridgewater area and the Morristown area.”

After New Jersey offered an attractive tax incentive, McKercher said, the company began to look in Morris County, but decided that Somerset County was the way to go.

“It became clear that we would attract more people if we moved closer to Bridgewater as opposed to Morristown,” he said. “That would allow us to even attract candidates from Pennsylvania.”

“The talent pool was available and the building we liked is being renovated,” he added.

McKercher said then the Basking Ridge office will have 117 employees, and it will include commercial operations, leadership for sales, marketing, the human resources department and across the entire business gamut, among other workers.