If you have taken medications for therapeutic areas such as dermatology, respiratory, cardiology and diabetes in the past year, there’s a decent chance they passed through the Lehigh Valley.
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals unveiled its Allentown Distribution Center Monday morning in Upper Macungie Township. The India-based company has consolidated its primary U.S. distribution hub to the 160,000 square-foot building on 6.5 acres just off Route 100.
“Behind every one of those units is a patient counting on us,” said Marc Kikuchi, president — North America, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, to a crowd of employees and Lehigh Valley officials before a ribbon was cut. “And medicine only helps a patient if it reaches them on time, at the right temperature and in the right condition. That is the essential work taking place here every day.”
Previously an empty shell building, Glenmark has installed pharmaceutical storage facilities that keep medicines at different temperatures, some as low as 40 degrees. It operates under both U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Drug Enforcement Administration requirements for storage, handling, security and product integrity.
The medications are distributed to 320 locations across more than 40 states. In its first year, more than 61 million units were shipped that included oral solids, injectables, creams, ointments, metered-dose inhalers and nasal sprays. Generic medications as well as Glenmark’s branded nasal spray product Ryaltris — used for allergic rhinitis — pass through.
The plant employs 45, who all went through specific training to work in an FDA- and DEA-regulated environment. It includes Glenmark’s strict standard operating procedures that includes handling controlled substances in the vault and standard scheduled drugs in secure cages.
“I know [the Lehigh Valley] used to be known for steel and blue-collar work,” Kikuchi said. “I think that work ethic translates across industries. It’s an opportunity to really have folks upskill their current skill sets and really have roles in the pharmaceutical space.”
The distribution hub complements Glenmark’s U.S. locations including its corporate office in Elmwood Park, New Jersey, a manufacturing facility in Monroe, North Carolina and the Ichnos Glenmark Innovation subsidiary headquartered in New York. Glenmark employs about 400 in the U.S. and has invested $1 billion in research and manufacturing.
Ravi Kannan, Allentown site head, said Glenmark looked at 130 properties across several states over a two-year period, but the Lehigh Valley was the most impressive.
“Allentown stood out as the right home based on the talented workforce, the strong logistics network, and our proximity to our customers and U.S. headquarters,” he said.
Kristin Cahayla-Hoffman, vice president of business development and attraction for the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp., said there are more than 100 international companies in the Valley with more than 180 life science establishments that include manufacturing, laboratories and distribution.
The Lehigh Valley has been attractive to the life sciences industry and houses more than 170 companies specializing in biotechnology, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals, according to the LVEDC. Glenmark will joining other industry leaders including B. Braun Medical, Olympus Corporation of the Americas, OraSure Technologies, Sartorius and Piramal Pharma Solutions.
Eli Lilly and Co. has begun building a $3.5 billion manufacturing plant a couple of miles away in Upper Macungie that is expected to create 850 jobs when it opens in 2031.
“Our strategic location puts them near major markets throughout the Northeast, and a third of U.S. consumers can be reached within a day’s drive,” Cahayla-Hoffman said.
Morning Call reporter Evan Jones can be reached at ejones@mcall.com.