Gov. Lincoln Chafee and the Rhode Island Economic Development Corp. board of directors approved a measure to lower the corporate income tax rate for Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc.
They cited the company's addition of jobs in the state as the reason for the tax break.
Alexion, working in an expanding bioscience industry, employs 194 people statewide.
Since the company purchased its biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Smithfield, R.I. in 2006, the company has invested more than $150 million in renovations and retrofitting.
According to the EDC, Alexion expanded from 13 full-time employees in Rhode Island in 2006 to 113 in 2009 with a median annual salary of $75,000.
With 92 of those 100 new jobs meeting qualifying requirements within a three-year period under the state's Jobs Development Act, the Cheshire, Conn.-based company became eligible for a corporate income tax rate reduction.
