August 28, 2015
By Alex Keown, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff
GREENVILLE, N.C. – Contract and specialty pharmaceutical manufacturer Mayne Pharma, plans a 126,000 square-foot expansion to its Greenville, N.C. facility in support of new products, the N.C. governor’s office announced Thursday.
The planned $65 million investment will support space for use in large-scale oral and solid-dose manufacturing over the next five years. Mayne develops and manufactures branded and generic products globally. The expansion will allow the company to hire 110 new workers to support expanded operations. 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. The site currently employs 350.
“This significant investment in our Greenville site will allow Mayne Pharma to take on new and larger products, and expand our work in advanced oral drug delivery technologies, along with high-potent and controlled-release products,” Stefan Cross, president of Mayne Pharma USA, said in a statement.
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, the News & Observer reported.
The site provides contract pharmaceutical development services to third parties globally, WRAL noted. 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.
Mayne Pharma posted $143 million in revenue for 2014.The Greenville expansion of the Mayne facility was supported by $2.7 million in tax incentives and grant money, including a performance-based grant of $550,000 from the One North Carolina Fund, which was established to assist local governments in North Carolina attract business projects to stimulate the local economy. Earlier this week, Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk benefited from a One North Carolina Fund grant to build a new manufacturing facility in Johnston County, N.C. Novo expects to spend between $1.2 and $1.7 billion on the new site, which is expected to employ 700 over the next five years.
GlaxoSmithKline also recently expanded operations at a site in Zebulon, N.C. to accommodate a new assembly line to manufacture the asthma drug Ellipta.
However, other pharmaceutical companies with a manufacturing presence in North Carolina have recently reduced their Tar Heel workforce. In May, Hospira, Inc. announced it was laying off 100 people at its Clayton, N.C. facility. And in April, Canadian firm Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. acquired Raleigh, N.C.’s Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. , laying off 258 workers.
