Mystery company lifts veil on biotech decision

The name of the company that was considering building a major biotech manufacturing plant in Massachusetts - code-named Project Magellan by local economic development officials - has finally been revealed.

Swiss drug maker Novartis AG said yesterday it plans to build a $700 million plant in Singapore, two weeks after Massachusetts officials said the unnamed company had decided to go elsewhere.

Novartis had managed to keep its identity secret for almost a year by using a site selection firm to contact local officials about its cell culture-production facility, which is expected to create 300 jobs.

Novartis spokesman Jeffrey Lockwood said the company, which has 1,500 employees in Cambridge, considered sites around the world, but there wasn't any single reason why it picked Singapore.

"These are decisions made on a global level," Lockwood said. "There are a multiple factors that go into these decisions."

Peter Abair, director of economic development for the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, said it was a good sign that Massachusetts was a finalist for the plant.

"It's a very competitive industry with every region of the world actively seeking these opportunities," Abair said.

Economic development officials will try to learn from the Project Magellan process, he said, so Massachusetts will be in a position to land the next big biotech project.

TODD WALLACK