Syngenta Biotechnology will soon begin demolishing a 110,000 square-foot building in Research Triangle Park, as it finalizes plans for its Triangle campus.

The company, which develops genetically engineered seeds and other products, bought the building on Davis Drive and 50 acres adjacent to its main RTP site late last year.

Syngenta also has moved some of its more than 400 local employees into 100,000 square feet of leased space in Keystone Office Park while it renovates and expands its main facility nearby at Cornwallis Drive. The company will run shuttles to move its workers between the two sites.

Syngenta Biotechnology paid $10.7 million for 50 acres of land and a 110,000 square foot building located next to the company's Research Triangle Park campus on Cornwallis Road.

The company announced earlier this month that it had the land under contract and would use it as a possible expansion site. It also said it had leased 100,000 square feet of additional space at the Keystone Building on Davis Drive in RTP.

Syngenta employs more than 400 people at its global biotech research center in RTP. The company develops genetically engineered seeds that promise to produce larger harvests and be more resistant to disease, pests and drought.

Syngenta owns 200,000 square feet of space on Cornwallis Road. The 110,000 square foot building the company purchased is located at 9 Davis Drive and was built in 1967.

A company spokeswoman said earlier this month that Syngenta plans to move employees from the Cornwallis site to the newly leased space so that it can build out its lab space.

Syngenta has been in RTP since 1984. Its operations include laboratories, offices and greenhouses.

Syngenta Biotechnology, which recently announced plans to expand its North American headquarters in Research Triangle Park, also is expanding operations in China.

The subsidiary of the Swiss drug maker plans to spend $100 million over the next five years to expand at the Zhongguancun Life Science Park in Beijing. The company already employs 70 people there.

That facility is overseen by officials in RTP, including Michiel van Lookeren Campagne, who left rival Bayer CropScience in October to become president of Syngenta Biotechnology.

"The capability expansion in China, combined with that of our U.S. biotechnology facility, will enable us to continue providing new solutions that increase crop yield and productivity, and offer additional choices for growers,” he said in a prepared statement.

Earlier this month, Syngenta Biotechnology announced it leased 100,000 square feet of additional space in RTP and signed a contract to purchase 50 acres of land as a possible future expansion site.

The company employs more than 400 people at its RTP campus, where it develops crop protection products and genetically engineered corn and soybean seeds that are more resistant to drought and disease.

Syngenta Biotechnology is expanding its footprint in Research Triangle Park.

The company has leased 100,000 square feet of additional space in RTP and signed a contract to purchase 50 acres of land as a possible future expansion site.

"RTP has been a great place for SBI to grow and flourish over the years," said Michiel van Lookeren Campagne, Syngenta's president and global head of biotechnology research & development. "The employment applicant pool is top-notch and the scientific community is active and thriving, making the area a prime location for potential expansion of our facilities and continued generation of industry-leading ideas."

Syngenta employs more than 400 people at its global biotech research center in RTP. The company develops genetically engineered seeds that promise to produce larger harvests and be more resistant to disease, pests and drought.

Jane Bachmann, a spokeswoman for Syngenta, said the company is leasing 100,000 square feet of space at the Keystone Building on Davis Drive. The company owns 200,000 square feet of space on Cornwallis Road in RTP.

"The intention is to move many of our employees who sit at the Cornwallis site to that leased space so we can build out the labs," Bachmann said.

Syngenta Biotechnology has recruited a top researcher from a main rival to oversee its global biotech research efforts.

While just one man changing jobs, the news also reinforces this region's reputation as a major hub in the world's economy.

Michiel van Lookeren Campagne, who earned his college degrees in the Netherlands, will be based at Syngenta's North American biotech headquarters in Research Triangle Park. That's where the division of the Swiss drug maker employs more than 400 people. He'll also oversee research at a facility in Beijing.

He previously was head of bioscience research at Bayer CropScience, a division of the German conglomerate that also employs more than 400 at its North American headquarters in RTP.

Both Syngenta Biotechnology and Bayer CropScience are expanding as demand increases for pesticides and other crop protection products.