Genetics Institute Inc. said Wednesday it would proceed with aplanned 80 percent expansion of an existing productdevelopment and manufacturing facility in Andover, Mass.

GI of Cambridge, Mass., said the expansion is expected to cost$55 million and would add 168,000 square feet of space in twobuildings to 210,000 square feet of existing facilities inAndover. The new facilities will also add about 200 employeesto GI's payroll, now at about 700, by its expected completion in1994.

The costs include site preparation for potential futureexpansion on the company's 53-acre Andover campus, whichcould accommodate up to 1 million square feet of facilities,according to company spokesman Melinda Lindquist.

GI announced last month the purchase of a 43,000-square-footfacility in Cambridge to house an expanding small moleculedrug discovery program. Its company-owned Cambridgeheadquarters and research laboratories are 145,000 squarefeet.

Product development operations and a cell culturemanufacturing facility are already operating in Andover. Thenew facilities are to include a 113,000-square-footpreclinical research and development building and a 42,000-square-foot central energy plant.

GI manufactures Recormon and Epogin brands of erythropoietin(EPO) for overseas markets. Its Leucomax granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) last week wasrecommended for marketing approval in the EuropeanCommunity.

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