Many recent biotech expansions and facility openings have come in Europe's big three of Germany, the U.K. and France.
   Novartis has begun operations at its biotech plant in Hunningue, in France's Alsace region. The company has invested more than $175 million in the facility that specializes in an asthma treatment based on genetically modified cells.
   Switzerland-based Roche is expanding its complex in Penzberg, Germany, near Munich, with a total investment of more than $500 million in two plants. The Penzberg site is Roche's largest, acquired when Roche acquired Boehringer Mannheim in 1998. Boehringer Mannheim began developing products there in the early 1970s, after purchasing a former mining site.
   The originator of Roche's most visible product, Tamiflu, is California-based Gilead Sciences, the world's third largest biotech company by market capitalization and a specialist in treatments for hepatitis and HIV. Gilead has recently moved its European headquarters to a site in London near Heathrow Airport.
   The New Year could bring a blockbuster announcement by another California-based firm, Amgen. The Irish Times reported in December that Amgen had narrowed choices for a $1.5-billion manufacturing operation to sites in County Cork, Ireland; Switzerland and Singapore.

   Editor's Note: Amgen indeed announced multiple projects in January 2006. Look for a complete report based on our interview with an Amgen executive in the "World Reports" section of Site Selection's March 2006 issue.