Roche returned the financial aid offered to keep the Florence plant open

FLORENCE, S.C. (AP) — Roche has returned to the state the financial aid offered to keep the company’s Florence plant open, said Hugh Leatherman, the Senator of South Carolina.

In an attempt to persuade Roche Carolina to keep its unit open, Leatherman made efforts to raise $500,000 in incentive money from the state Commerce Department, reported the Morning News of Florence.
Earlier in November, the company had announced the probable closure of its Florence plant.
The company said that it would keep open its Florence plant for at least a few more years subsequent to response of the state.

Earlier this week, Leatherman said that the Commerce Department is in receipt of the money returned by Roche.
The key component for Tamiflu as well as an oral chemotherapy drug is manufactured at Roche’s eastern Florence County plant, which employs nearly 300 people.