Baxter International To Build Georgia Plasma Manufacturing Plant

Baxter International Inc. (BAX) will build a manufacturing facility in Covington, Ga., as part of its efforts to expand its plasma-based treatments for immune disorders, trauma and other critical conditions.

The medical-products company projects capital investments at the site will exceed $1 billion over the next five years as it creates more than 1,500 full-time positions in Georgia and a total of roughly 2,000 jobs across multiple U.S. locations. The company has a total of about 48,500 employees.

Construction will begin this year and commercial production is expected to start in 2018. The new plasma fractionation facility will add up to 3 million liters of new capacity annually when fully operational.

Baxter, unlike some other health-care companies, has seen consistent sales and profit growth in recent quarters as the medical devices, pharmaceuticals and biotechnologies it makes treat serious medical problems that can't be ignored, such as cancer, immune disorders and trauma. The product mix has made it less susceptible to patients looking to pare medical costs amid a slow economic recovery.

The company reported in January its fourth-quarter earnings rose 9.5% as sales growth in both its BioScience and medical products segments contributed to a 2.7% revenue increase.

Shares closed Wednesday at $54.39 and were inactive premarket. The stock is up 9.9% so far this year.

-By Melodie Warner, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2283; [e-mail]