115 jobs coming to Albany

Merck unit is part of project to detect, manage infections at care facilities

ILUM Health Solutions, a subsidiary of Merck & Co., will team up with the state Health Department and Gaithersburg, Md.-based data analysis company Opgen in a program to detect, track and manage antimicrobial-resistant infections at health care institutions, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday.

ILUM will relocate to the Capital Region, invest up to $48 million and create up to 115 jobs over a five-year period, the governor said.

The move comes as Wadsworth Center, the Health Department’s public health laboratory, prepares to move into new Capital Region facilities under a $750 million commitment to support the relocation. Envisioned as “a lab for the 21st century,” Wadsworth is intended to attract private-sector companies

and academic institutions to collaborate in research and development.

A final location for the new Wadsworth Center hasn’t yet been announced, but locations being eyed include the University at Albany’s Health Sciences campus in East Greenbush and the Harriman State Office Campus in Albany.

An official request for proposals is expected to be issued Monday.

“By investing in public health institutions and innovative research, we are working to protect New Yorkers against harmful infectious diseases while cementing our status as a leader in the growing life sciences sector,” Cuomo said. “This groundbreaking partnership will create new, cutting-edge tools to bring life-changing discoveries out of the lab and into the world, moving our economy forward and creating a stronger, healthier New York for all.”

Earlier this month, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals announced it would spend $800 million to expand in East Greenbush and add 1,500 jobs in the next five years to the 2,600 it already has in the area.

ILUM in the short term will lease space in downtown Albany near the Corning Tower, an Empire State Development spokeswoman said. That would put it close to existing Wadsworth Center laboratory facilities in the Empire State Plaza.

The initiative must meet an initial milestone, which would then lead to a commitment from the New York State Life Sciences to provide $22.4 million in public funding.