Singapore: Tokyo-based Astellas, a pharmaceutical company, is investing $140 million to locate its headquarters for the Americas in Glenview, Illinois, US. The investment and the expansion will create 150 new jobs.

The new headquarters will include two seven-story buildings spread over 446,000 square feet area. The complex has been designed to achieve LEED Gold certification. The company's more than 1,000 employees recently moved to the new headquarters, and the expansion includes the addition of 150 good paying, high-tech jobs.

"At Astellas, we measure success not only by bringing innovative pharmaceuticals to patients and physicians, but also by our commitment to the communities in which we work," said Mr Masao Yoshida, president and CEO, Astellas Pharma US. "The new Astellas headquarters for the Americas is a symbol of the company's continued growth, and our close cooperation with the state of Illinois and Governor Quinn's office. The new buildings are a result of that collaboration and our confidence that Illinois is a good place to do business."

Illinois' Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity is also providing a strategic investment package of approximately $4 million in Economic Development for a Growing Economy corporate income tax credits and Employer Training Investment Program job training funds to Astellas to bolster the $140 million investment in the state.