The maker of Advil, Emergen-C, Sensodyne toothpaste and other products is investing millions into its Richmond operations. Pharmaceutical company Haleon announced a $54 million investment to upgrade and expand its facility on Sherwood Avenue, during a press event Monday morning.

“It is a very encouraging step to see big international companies making huge investments in our town,” said Mayor Danny Avula, who joined Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Commerce and Trade Secretary Caren Merrick, Haleon North America President Lisa Paley and hundreds of Haleon employees at the event.

Haleon’s decision followed discussions between state officials and the company’s leaders about expanding their local involvement last year in England. For Youngkin, the investment represents the latest development for what he called the “pharma corridor” between the cities of Richmond and Petersburg.

The growth of this corridor, as officials explained, has been driven by the potential workforce of students from state colleges such as Old Dominion University, Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia and others.

“The talent is at the heart of it,” Youngkin said. That talent will be tapped as part of a five-year paid internship program for graduate and undergraduate students focused on advanced life sciences and consumer health care. Haleon and the Commonwealth of Virginia will co-fund the initiative and are partnering with Virginia Commonwealth University to launch and manage the initiative.