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“We are a recognized center for pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, and related industries,” says Wanda Yuhas, executive director of the Pitt County Development Commission. The Biopharma Crescent, an alliance of leadership among Pitt, Johnston, Wilson, and Nash counties, is attracting attention from around the world. Together with the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, these counties are working with pharmaceutical companies to recruit their suppliers to the area.
Companies look favorably at this region, with its nearly dozen pharmaceutical manufacturers, as a location with potential. Already the biotech industry employs nearly 10,000 people in
these counties, Yuhas says. A 51,000-square foot shell building is ready for a tenant, adding to Pitt County’s advantages.
Training programs are available through the Pharmaceutical Services Network at East Carolina University and Pitt Community College, with the college teaching production techniques for oral solid dose (pill, tablet) manufacturing, and the university teaching good manufacturing practices (GMP) and management skills.
The Golden Leaf Foundation provided $1.75 million for the development of the programs, with additional support from the Pitt County Development Commission, the Pitt County Committee of 100, and the Biotechnology Center.
With Thermo Fisher Scientific’s purchase of the Patheon and DSM’s pharmaceutical component, local leaders are forging new relationships for the company’s evolution in Pitt County. The purchase did not affect DSM Dyneema’s high performance fabric production, which is still located in Greenville.
Additional highlights of pharmaceutical growth in Greenville include the $80-million expansion of Australia-based Mayne Pharma in 2018. The expansion of its complex-dosage manufacturing and analytical testing facility added more than 100 science and technology jobs to its Greenville base of 350 workers.
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