The pharmaceutical company has received FDA approval to package cardiovascular and metabolic drugs on site.
Pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo Inc. plans to at least double the work force at its Lehigh Valley Industrial Park VI plant now that it has received government approval to package certain drugs onsite.The company, which employs about 39 now, expects to surpass 80 workers by the end of the year, said Jeff Lane, vice president of supply chain and technical operations.
“The FDA approval gets us up to achieving full staffing levels we envisioned for our packaging operations,” Lane said, adding the company hopes to add other operations to its Baglyos Circle plant.The Food and Drug Administration has granted Daiichi approval to package cardiovascular and metabolic drugs that are used to treat conditions including heart disease, diabetes and hypertension, the company said today.
Lane said Daiichi had previously outsourced those functions to other sites in North America. The company plans to add line operators, materials handlers, project engineers and quality specialists.
The job creation would honor a commitment Daiichi made when locating here in February 2011 after receiving state aid of $596,000, including an opportunity grant, job-creation tax credits and job-training assistance. That company’s total project investment was $19.6 million.
With the FDA approval, the company hopes to increase functions at LVIP VI related to clinical trial materials and analytical testing so it can further expand.
Daiichi opened its 140,000 square-foot building last year at the former site of Amcor, which closed a pharmaceutical packaging plant in 2010.
The company is part of the U.S. division of a Japanese pharmaceutical company with domestic headquarters in Parsippany, N.J. The U.S. division reported $1.6 billion in sales last year, up from $1.5 billion in 2010.