Pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. will be expanding in St. Louis County with a new $200 million research-and-development facility, County Executive Steve Stenger announced Tuesday.

The expansion of Pfizer’s existing operation in Chesterfield is expected to create more than 80 jobs and retain more than 450 scientists, researchers and other employees in the region, according to a county news release.

“This is one of the biggest business investments in St. Louis County history, with more than $200 million being spent on this facility,” Stenger stated in the release. “Securing this was a very competitive process. Company leaders tell us St. Louis County’s excellent quality of life and our willingness to work closely with Pfizer over many years helped us win this project. We greatly look forward to the groundbreaking and grand opening.”

Pfizer, headquartered in New York, has been operating in St. Louis County for more than 13 years. The company has research and development labs, office space and manufacturing operations in two county locations, with a focus on biotherapeutics and vaccine development.

CRG and Clayco will build the new facility and lease it to Pfizer.

“Missouri is an important part of Pfizer’s R&D network, and we’re proud of the world-class employee base we’ve built here,” John Ludwig, Pfizer senior vice president of biotherapeutics research, stated in the release. “Thanks to the support we’ve received from the state of Missouri, St. Louis County and Chesterfield, our new St. Louis laboratory facility will provide the right location and space as we continue to evolve our business over the coming years.”

Construction of the state-of-the-art facility is expected to begin in 2017. It will be designed to develop biotherapeutic molecules such as vaccines, immune-oncology therapies, monoclonal antibodies and biosimilars in the therapeutic areas of vaccines, oncology, inflammation and immunology.

Once the new building in Chesterfield is complete, Pfizer will bring employees from two sites and multiple buildings under one roof.

The new site will situate Pfizer in an optimal location and offer ample space to keep pace with the evolution of its business over the coming years, according to the release.

“Pfizer’s decision to open their new facility in St. Louis County is a great enhancement to our already strong reputation as a leader in the biomedical sector,” St. Louis Economic Development Partnership CEO Sheila Sweeney stated. “The pharmaceutical sector is important to our local economy, and the Partnership is focused on industries that are growing here in the fields of biomedical, agricultural technology and information technology.”

This announcement comes as several other global bioscience and pharmaceutical companies have invested and added new jobs in St. Louis County, including Express Scripts, Virbac and Pantheon.

To assist with Pfizer’s new facility, the county and the state offered a strategic economic incentive package that the company can receive if it meets specific criteria for job creation.