PEACHTREE CITY,Michael Schmidt Ga. (AP) — A German drug packaging and medical device maker says it will expand in suburban Atlanta, investing $88 million and hiring more than 200 new employees.

Gerresheimer AG, based in Dusseldorf, said Thursday that it would build a new factory in Peachtree City, south of Atlanta. The company currently employs more than 260 people there, and it had already announced an expansion that is supposed to add 180 jobs by April.

Gerresheimer has been operating in Peachtree City for more than 30 years, officials said.

The company has bought land and will build a factory with 160,000 square feet (15,000 square meters). The new factory, scheduled to open in fall 2024, will focus on making autoinjectors, spring-loaded syringes that are used to inject drugs.

The new jobs will pay an average salary of $56,000 a year, said Amanda Fields, director of existing industries for the Fayette County Development Authority.