Boehringer Ingelheim will manufacture the flea and tick preventive NexGard (afoxolaner) in Puerto Rico upon expansion of a plant in the northern city of Barceloneta.
The $50 million project will lead to 105 additional full-time jobs at the factory, which now employs about 200 people.
Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health in recent years has expanded vaccine and drug factories in Georgia and Missouri.
The 48-year-old Puerto Rico plant now manufactures the heartworm preventive Heartgard Plus (ivermectin/pyrantel) and packages Brazilian-made NexGard chewables for shipment to the United States and Canada.
Drug manufacturing is a leading industry on the island, making up 29.9% of the U.S. territory’s gross domestic product, a government official said.
Boehringer Ingelheim also announced the donation of 60,000 doses of rabies vaccine “and tens of thousands of dollars” to fight rabies in Puerto Rico.