Albemarle moves operations to newly bought DSM plant; cuts staff
operations of its pilot plant in Ohio to its recently acquired
manufacturing facility in Michigan.
The firm said the objective of the move, which will kick off before June, was to capitalise on overlapping equipment and staffing at the two sites. Albermarle bought the facility, which is focused on the production of generic active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and located in South Haven, Michigan, from DSM last September. "Our acquisition of a top-tier current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) facility in South Haven and the consolidation of manufacturing and services at this site will give our customers an effective scale-up solution at a commercial manufacturing site, and strengthen our ability to deliver higher-value services," said David Clary, Albemarle Fine Chemistry Services (FCS) division vice president. The plan includes an initial reduction of staff and contractor personnel at the Dayton, Ohio facility by the end of the second quarter of 2007, including a transfer of some employees from Dayton to South Haven or other Albemarle sites, the company said. Albemarle added that it expects to retain a few staff members at Dayton at least through the end of 2008, "to maintain operations required to fulfil ongoing commitments to a few key customers." In addition, the company expects to take a pre-tax charge of approximately $4m (€2.9m) to $5m related to the consolidation in Q2. Albemarle's FCS division provides contract R&D, custom synthesis, and custom cGMP or non-cGMP chemical manufacturing services for customers in the pharmaceutical industry. The division also makes and markets bulk APIs at South Haven and Orangeburg, South Carolina.
