Guidant Corp. Planning $100M Plant

INDIANAPOLIS-Locally headquartered Guidant Corp. is seeking a site for development of a $100-million plant that will employ 2,000 in the production of drug-coated heart stents, according to published reports. Company chairman James Cornelius reportedly made the statement in interviews following the company’s annual shareholders meeting. A spokesperson for the publicly traded company declined to confirm the information for GlobeSt.com. Instead, she issued a statement: “As Guidant moves toward US and international approval (for its new product), there is no doubt we will require additional capacity to meet demand. Our preliminary plans call for expanding both existing sites as well as evaluating potential sites for future expansion.”The plant will contain at least 100,000 sf and needs to be under construction before 2006, according to the reports, which is when Guidant expects to have FDA approval. Cornelius reportedly said the location will be dependent upon who offers up the best package of incentives, according to the reports. Guidant was spun-off from Eli Lilly and Co. 10 years ago. Though its headquarters are in Indiana, it has no manufacturing facilities in the state. Guidant’s stent business is in California, but is reportedly at full capacity. The company also has facilities in Ireland and Puerto Rico.Stents are wire-mesh tubes inserted into heart arteries. They are used to hold open sections of arteries after they have been cleared of plaque. The drug-coated stents help prevent the growth of scar tissue. Competing companies already produce a similar product.