Pharmedium set to close its idled facility
Compounding company laying off 167 employees
Pharmedium Healthcare Corp. is permanently closing its idled Memphis facility and laying off 167 employees, the company said in a WARN notice filed with the state.
The drug compounding company will close its outsourcing facility at 6100 Global Drive on April 20, with all employees expected to be laid off by Sept. 30, according to the WARN notice. The facility has been idled since December 2017 following FDA inspections.
“The contribution of our Pharmedium associates is greatly appreciated, and this decision was not made lightly,” parent company Amerisourcebergen said in a statement Thursday. “We are encouraging impacted associates to apply for positions of interest within our organization, and all eligible associates will be offered severance benefits, as well as career support services.”
Pharmedium allegedly produced drugs “made under insanitary conditions,” according to a news release from the FDA. In May, Pharmedium reached a consent decree that established requirements before the Memphis facility could reopen.
“(Pharmedium) exposed patients across the United States to risk of receiving a harmful drug, which we find unacceptable,” said then-acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless. “We will continue to take appropriate enforcement actions when compounding pharmacies and outsourcing facilities produce drugs under substandard conditions or use inappropriate practices that could lead to serious harm to patients.”
Amerisourcebergen said in November it would continue efforts to resume Memphis operations, it but announced in January that it plans to close its Pharmedium business due to “ongoing operational, regulatory, and commercial challenges.”
The facility already suffered a mass layoff the year before. In January 2019, Pharmedium announced it would lay off 225 workers there.
Max Garland covers Fedex, logistics and health care for The Commercial Appeal. Reach him at max.garland@commercialappeal.com or 901-529-2651 and on Twitter @Maxgarlandtypes.
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