Pharmaceuticals

Amneal Pharmaceuticals to expand solid dose manufacturing facility

Amneal Pharmaceuticals, a Bridgewater, New Jersey-based generic-drug manufacturer, plans to expand its manufacturing plant in Long Island, New York for solid dose and softgel products.  

The company plans to add 100,000 square feet to its 500,000-square-foot plant in South Yaphank, Long Island, and hire about 400 employees over the next 18 months. Over the past five years, Amneal invested $150 million to quadruple the size of the facility, which currently employs about 700. The company has not yet reported when the next phase of expansion might start or what it will cost.  

The company reported the expansion plans following an event at which Amneal received an energy rebate check of more than $600,000 from the local utility tied to an energy efficiency project Amneal recently completed at the South Yaphank facility. Amneal is eligible for up to another $3 million from New York State for the project, for which it has already received $1.5 million. 

The proposed new expansion follows Amneal’s October 2017 announcement of a merger with Impax Laboratories, a Hayward, California-based specialty pharmaceutical company focused on controlled-release and specialty generics. With the completion of the merger, Amneal says the combined companies will form the fifth largest generics maker in the US. The deal is expected to close by the end of the second quarter of 2018.