When Unilife was looking to relocate its corporate headquarters from Sydney, Australia, to the U.S. more than a year ago, Pennsylvania provided the syringe-maker with $1.8 million in support through tax breaks, training, and equipment loans–all enticements to and stay and invest.
Thanks to a $30 million contract with the world’s fourth-largest drugmaker, chances are Unilife is going to be in Pennsylvania for quite some time. Unilife and sanofi-aventis signed an industrialization agreement late last month that will commercialize Unilife’s Ready-to-Fill Syringe (RTFS) and completes the funding for Unilife’s RTFS industrialization program commenced a year ago.
Unilife’s patented RTFS allows the needle to be retracted into the glass vial of the syringe after use, which is safer and less bulky than other syringes that require clip-on devices. The company is investing $35 million in infrastructure and capital equipment to supply 40 million units by the end of next year and up to 400 million units annually beyond 2014.
“It’s a win-win for everyone,” says Unilife CEO Alan Shortall. “There are opportunities to be had out there, and we’re bringing a product to market that will save and enhance lives. It’s the kind of cause that allows you to attract high quality people and it’s an opportunity to leave a great legacy.”
Unilife arrived in Lewisberry, York County, in 2006 when it acquired Integrative Biosciences and changed the name of the company to Unilife Medical Solutions. When Unilife set up its headquarters in the state last July, it had 43 employees. Since July, the company has taken on 35 mid- to top-tier managers. Within 18 months, Shortall expects to have 150 employees and by 2015, he expects that number to climb to 300.
Source: Alan Shortall, Unilife
Writer: Joe Petrucci
