A market exists to customize pretty much anything. And increasing demand for medicine custom-made for specific patients is leading to more jobs in Erie.
Pharmacy Innovations, a custom pharmaceutical company based in western New York, is in the midst of plans to move to a new building near Erie. The company has seven employees at that location and plans to hire another 23 over the next three years.
The firm specializes in formulating medicines for patients with special needs, like difficulty swallowing, sensitivity to gluten and modified digestive systems after undergoing gastric bypass surgery. Pharmacy Innovations also makes medications that other manufacturers have discontinued. The firm’s other products include supplements and skin creams. Plus, it makes medicines for animals from gorillas to housecats.
The company’s president, Richard Moon, says rising sales to customers like hospitals and doctors’ offices prompted its expansion in Erie. “We’ve been serving a lot more hospitals and pharmacies,” he says.
A $568,000 low-interest loan from the Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority will help pay for the company’s new building, which will add another 13,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Moon hopes Pharmacy Innovations can start using it in October.
Source: Richard Moon, Pharmacy Innovations
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen