Eli Lilly said Thursday that it will close one of its three manufacturing facilities in Puerto Rico at the end of 2015.
The Indianapolis company said it is closing its Guayama facility because the patents on some of the drugs made there have expired. That means new competition reached the market and its sales and prices dropped.
Eli Lilly and Co. intends to sell the Guayama plant. Lilly said the 100 employees who work there will be offered jobs at another one of its facilities on the island, which are located in Carolina, Puerto Rico. Guayama is in the southeastern part of Puerto Rico, and Carolina is in the northeast.
The company said it will take a pretax charge of $170 million in the fourth quarter because of the planned closure. That will cost the company about 16 cents per share after taxes.
Eli Lilly has announced $240 million investments in its Carolina, Puerto Rico, facilities since late 2013.
Lilly shares slipped 81 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $62.06 in late afternoon trading.
