Pharmaceutical outsourcing services provider, PCI Pharma Services, has marked a milestone by reaching its 50th anniversary of contract packaging services at its Rockford, Illinois, location.
Fifty
The location, which was founded as Anderson Packaging/Anderson Brothers in Rockford in 1967, was acquired in 2013 by PCI. It has experienced significant growth over the 50 years and now employs about 1,600 full time associates as well as an additional 200 temporary associates.
“Rockford is a centre of excellence for packaging services in our global supply network,” noted Peg Bakken, vice president and general manager of the Rockford facilities. “The growth in employment and our ongoing investments at the local facilities are by virtue of strong demand for our services, supporting drug companies as they develop and commercialise lifesaving medicines.
“It is very rewarding to partner with these companies as they provide breakthrough medicines in areas such as cancer, HIV/AIDS, diabetes as well as many rare and previously untreated diseases. We engage drug companies very early in development, supporting their clinical trial activities, their FDA approval and commercial launch, as well as ongoing commercial supply that can span multiple decades. Rockford continues to be a strong part of our growth and expansion in the market.”
Bill Mitchell, president and CEO of PCI Pharma Services, commented: “Our Rockford operations represent a considerable platform for the ongoing success of PCI. Our commercial contract packaging services are truly market leading with a strong market trajectory. Our clinical trial services provide a very exciting area for market growth and expansion, and very complementary to our commercial business.
“We also see exciting synergies between our specialised services in drug manufacturing and packaging, particularly in support of oncology therapies, which has considerable pharmaceutical market activity in the area of drug development and commercialisation. We are very excited about the future of the company and potential for continued growth and expansion.”
The company’s Rockford site operates seven facilities in the Rockford area, supporting packaging of prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines and consumer health products, as well as significant growth in its support for investigational medicines for clinical trials, for which it both packages for individual studies as well as distributes to global investigational sites.