Pfizer invests Euro 71 million in Belgium

Pfizer is to spend Euro 71 million in three sites in Belgium, seemingly turning around the company's earlier very public axing of a proposed investment in the country.

At less than one week away from an announcement about its new global strategy, Pfizer's Belgian arm presented these new investments as a sign of renewed confidence in Belgium as a country of investment.

Manager for Pfizer Belgium-Luxembourg, Cees Heiman, said that the following week, the Company's ceo would announce new measures concerning the future of the company and that Belgium could expect to be affected. Heiman was speaking at a presentation of new investments which the Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt attended.

Heiman added that as far as this is concerned Pfizer is maintaining its confidence in Belgium as a country of investment and is aware of the work that the Prime Minister and the government are doing to make the country more attractive for pharma. The presentation at which he was speaking was being held in Purrs, Flanders, where Pfizer has a production facility.

Pfizer was confronted with a significant setback last December when development of its cholesterol treatment torcetrapid, for which it had high hopes, was discontinued for safety reasons. The group then an-nounced that its "transformation plan" would be accel-erated. CEO, Jeffrey Kindler, is expected to make announcements on January 22.

In response to questions from APM, the spokesperson for Pfizer Belgium said he did not wish to make any comment on the article that appeared on Tuesday in the Wall Street Journal, according to which several thousands of jobs could be axed worldwide, particularly in Europe.