August 4, 2016
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Following its $652 million deal for 42 drug products from Teva Pharmaceutical and Allergan , Australia-based Mayne Pharma has increased the scope of a planned expansion of a manufacturing facility in eastern North Carolina.
The deal with Teva and Allergan brought 37 approved drugs and five products that have been filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under the Mayne Pharma brand. The deal thrust Mayne into the 25 generic companies in the United States. At least 11 of the products will be shifted to Mayne Pharma’s manufacturing plants in Greenville, N.C. and Salisbury, South Australia. With the added number of products in its pipeline, Mayne said it will commit an additional $15 million to the expansion of its manufacturing facility in Greenville, N.C. Last year, the company broke ground on what was a planned $65 million expansion that includes a 126,000 square-foot expansion to support space for use in large-scale oral and solid-dose manufacturing. The additional $15 million will introduce new capabilities to the facility, including multi-particulate layering and bead-coating fluid bed technology, WNCT reported.
Mayne develops and manufactures branded and generic products globally. The company said the investment in the Greenville facility includes the hiring of 110 employees over the next five years. The site currently employs 350 people. The new positions will include scientists, quality assurance specialists and manufacturing operators. Positions will have an average salary of $60,000, almost double the average salary for the area.
When ground was broken on the expansion project, the company said the $65 million investment includes plans to repurpose existing space to support laboratory expansions. Additionally, the expanded facility will include a new visitor and staff administrative center linking the two main buildings. Mayne Pharma predicts the expansion will be completed by 2018.
The Greenville facility was originally owned by Metrics Contract Services, which was acquired by Australia-based Mayne in 2012 for $120 million. Metrics was founded in 1994 by a Burroughs Wellcome scientist, Phil Hodges, and a professor at nearby East Carolina University, John Bray.
Mayne’s Greenville site provides contract pharmaceutical development services to third parties globally. Specialty products manufactured by Mayne Pharma include acne treatment Doryx tablets and the combination pain treatment Lorcet. Generic products also include doxycycline, hydrocodone and erythromycin. The Greenville site specializes in oral and topical dosage forms including highly potent compounds, Schedule II-V controlled substances, inherently unstable compounds and products with poor bioequivalence, according to Mayne’s website.
