State-of-the-art site makes customized prescriptions
Empower’s compounding pharmacy mixes medications to meet patients’ individual needs
A Houston compounding pharmacy has relocated to a $4.7 million facility built to meet higher standards of quality and safety in an industry that has faced increased federal scrutiny in recent years.
Empower Pharmacy on Thursday debuted its new lab and service center near Beltway 8 and U.S. 290 on the city’s northwest side, a 15,000-square-foot space that took more than two years to prepare. It’s one of a relatively small number of facilities registered with the Food and Drug Administration to provide sterile, customized prescriptions to patients and physicians across the U.S.
“Registering with the FDA means not only can we meet the needs of a larger group of patients and serve them because of our national licensing, but it means we’re meeting good manufacturing practices,” CEO Shaun Noorian said after a tour of the new center.
Compounding pharmacies are modern-day apothecaries that mix prescription medications to meet patients’ individual needs and specifications. The multibilliondollar industry is expected to grow in coming years, due in part to com-
mercial drug shortages and an overall increase in demand for pharmaceuticals, according to IBIS-World research.
Empower focuses primarily on drugs to treat hormonal, sexual and other wellness needs such as weight loss and skin care. Other pharmacies within the industry serve a range of practices from pediatrics to hospice care, said Dagmar Anderson, vice president of communications for the International Association of Compounding Pharmacists.
“I think if you ask lot of physicians, their practices would not be possible without having compounding involved because there are so many times you have patients that just have no other options,” she said.
The industry has faced challenges. In 2013, Congress passed legislation meant to tighten regulations of compound drugs after a large-scale outbreak of meningitis linked to a pharmacy in Massachusetts.
As an FDA-registered facility, Empower makes products that are subject to federal regulations and oversight, and parts of the new lab exceed baseline requirements, Noorian said. Sterile compounds are manufactured in a “clean room” where a monitoring system constantly measures pressure, temperature, humidity and particulate levels. Equipment is sterilized in a fully automated process.
‘More costly’
“We knew it would be significantly more costly, require more time and be more complex than simply doing the bare minimum to get our registration,” Noorian said. “But when it comes to compounded medications that are injected into the body, there is no such thing as good enough.”
Noorian developed an interest in the field while a patient undergoing treatment for low testosterone. He said the treatment with a compounded medicine changed his life, but he was frustrated by the quality of the pharmacies he used.
Founded in 2009
He founded Empower in 2009 with one other employee in the back of a doctor’s office and then moved to a 1,500-square-foot facility on Jones Road outside Beltway 8. The company employs 65 people in its new location, and Noorian said he expects that number to nearly double within the next two years.
John Crisler, an osteopathic doctor who runs a men’s health practice in Michigan, flew to Houston to tour the facility. He said his practice, which recently selected Empower as its preferred pharmacy, has been working with Noorian for about two years.
“We think this is state-ofthe-art right now,” he said.
There are only about 65 FDA-registered compounding facilities in the U.S. Others in the Houston area include Advanced Pharma, Pharm D Solutions, QuVa Pharma and PharMEDium, according to the agency’s website.
Anderson, who has been in the industry for about 20 years, said she has seen a marked increase in the quality of products and treatment.
“It has come a long way in terms of the volume of patients it’s able to serve because of their specific issues,” she said. “Like any other medical profession, (the quality) has continued to advance.”