8 November 2026

New Haven, CT – Unilever plans to open a new Global Innovation Center in New Haven by spring 2029. The center will serve as the company’ s hub for personal care, beauty and wellbeing research and development, both in the U. S. and worldwide. The project is part of the Downtown Crossing redevelopment and will place Unilever’ s research operations near the city’ s bioscience district. Unilever will occupy about 100,000sf of the building, which is being developed by Winstanley Enterprises.

Unilever will invest $ 270 million in the center over the long term, including $ 50 million in capital expenditure. Combined public and private funding for the project will exceed $ 300 million. About 300 employees will work at the center. It will replace Unilever’ s R & D facility in Trumbull, Conn., which has operated since 1972.

The new facility will bring all of Unilever’ s R & D functions together under one roof, including formulation, fragrance creation, packaging design and consumer insights. Planned spaces include:

• A global center for skin care and cleansing

• A polycultural skin and hair center of excellence

• A human performance lab

• The Unilever Fragrance House

• A packaging innovation studio

The center will also make use of AI and emerging quantum computing capabilities.

“ New Haven gets us to the future faster,” said Herrish Patel, president of

Global Innovation Center / Rendering courtesy of Unilever

Unilever USA and CEO of Personal Care North America.

Richard Slater, Unilever’ s chief research and development officer, said the shift is about“ integration and speed: science, design and sensorials working as one.”

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said the investment“ reaffirms Connecticut’ s global reputation as a leader in innovation, research and development, and discovery.”

The project builds on nearly $ 15 billion Unilever has invested in its U. S. business over the past decade.

Biddeford, ME – MaineHealth will develop Maine’ s first dedicated clinical research unit at MaineHealth Maine Medical Center Biddeford, supported by a $ 2 million grant from the Maine Technology Institute( MTI) through its Maine Life Sciences Center.

The unit will support both early- and late-phase clinical trials, so patients will not have to travel out of state to take part. Plans include observation rooms for overnight patient stays and a dedicated pharmacy, with access to the hospital’ s laboratory, imaging and diagnostic services. The unit will comply with the Human Research Protection Program and

HIPAA. Focus areas under consideration include oncology, cardiovascular disease, infectious disease and behavioral health.

“ We believe patients should have access to top-notch therapies no matter where they live,” said Dr. Doug Sawyer, MaineHealth’ s chief academic officer, who is leading the effort with oncologist Dr. Scot Remick.

“ Maine has not historically had the infrastructure needed to support earlyphase clinical trials,” said Sarah Delmar, founding director of the Maine Life Sciences Center.

Work is scheduled to begin no later than December, and patient care is targeted for 2027. www. high-profile. com