Drug manufacturer APP Pharmaceutical Inc. has hired 50 employees from its industrial neighbor on Grand Island, Astellas Pharma, and continues to expand.
“We have finished hiring Astellas employees but are actively hiring for open manufacturing positions,” company spokeswoman Debra Lynn Ross said.
Based in Schaumberg, Ill., APP expected to take possession of the Astellas plant and property May 1. Both companies make pharmaceuticals.
In the last 30 days, APP met many of its increased production needs by hiring half of the Astellas workforce.
Astellas closed its Staley Road plant adjacent to APP Pharmaceutical after deciding to ship production of its sole product, a proprietary ointment, back to Japan where the company has headquarters.
Ross said APP plans to use the Astellas space for office, warehouse and laboratory purposes “as soon as registration and licensing have been approved, which is imminent.
“We are in the process of evaluating our product plans for the rest of the Astellas facility,” she said.
APP primarily makes injectable liquids for the health-care industry, but its product portfolio also includes ointments.
Between its Staley Road plant and an administration and warehouse operation on Lang Boulevard, APP’s Grand Island facilities employ more than 600 people.
Last January, COO Frank Harmon said the enlargement of APP Pharmaceutical’s production capabilities by the acquisition of the Astellas property could lead to creation of a major drug manufacturing center on Grand Island.
“I can’t be more specific at this time,” he said, “because it depends on what our labor requirements and resource requirements are at the time we move in.”
Several changes are planned or being studied. Some might not occur for three to five years, he said.
Most immediate, though, will be a centralization of some of APP’s functions on Lang Boulevard into the Astellas building.
In January, Harmon mentioned the possibility of a Grand Island research and development center being developed that would augment a suburban Chicago location.
“We should know by summer if we are going to expand in that direction,” he said, “but we are very much in the preliminary analysis stage.”
He envisioned one or two other possible scenarios including developing the Lang Boulevard building into a centralized East Coast distribution and warehousing center.
“A lot of things will be happening in the next 12 months,” Harmon said in January.
No comments:
Post a Comment