NORWICH – The pharmaceutical industry needs help from the federal government to keep pace with the rest of the world in terms of medical research, according to U.S. Representative Richard Hanna.
Rep. Hanna (R-22nd District) was in Norwich on Friday to meet with business officials at Norwich Pharmaceuticals, an Alvogen company and a major employer in the Norwich area. The company would be among those to benefit from a federal initiative to increase funding for research to treat and cure rare and intractable diseases.
“If you look at Europe and other places around the world, you see that there are countries that are heavily investing in these kinds of value-added industries. We need to do it here too,” said Hanna. “We get behind as a country in terms of basic research when we don’t spend as much as other countries ... What we really need to do is stay ahead. If we’re not ahead in pharmaceuticals, we’re already behind.”
Hanna advocated for the 21st Century Cures Act, a bill that House lawmakers passed in July but still needs to be approved by the Senate. The bill would provide an extra $2 billion for pharmaceutical research, thus allowing the National Institutes of Health the ability to conduct further research of diseases without a cure – diseases like cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and Lyme disease.
Legislators say the bill is already paid for without adding to the national debt. Funding comes from the sale of national oil reserve overstock.
“Supporting the development of cures helps everyone,” said Charlie Andrews, Vice President of Operations at Norwich Pharmaceuticals. “Life improving therapies provides patients with specific conditions the potential for a better life. Continued improvement of treatment is a step in the right direction.”
Additionally, Andrews explained the impact of increased funding for research at Norwich Pharmaceuticals also translates to a positive impact on the local economy.
“What we could provide are continued employment and increased employment as we continue to develop drugs and bring those drugs into manufacturing,” he said.
At present, the 375,0000 square-foot Norwich Pharmaceuticals manufacturing site employs nearly 300 people; but with investment from the federal government, local business leaders say that number could grow and the effect could spill over into other industries.
“We’re really looking forward to the long range implications in terms of job creation and investment tracking,” said Steve Craig, Commerce Chenango President and CEO. “It’s very difficult to import expertise and investment from elsewhere to settle in any one particular spot. The hunt for the ‘great white whale’ that’s going to save the economy is the old model. We have to rely on innovation that’s homegrown ... An innovation that springs from here could create an entire other industry, and that’s really the strategy we have to follow. We have to create an ecosystem that supports innovation and entrepreneurship.”
Norwich Pharmaceuticals is currently undergoing a $26 million expansion project that the company says will make Norwich a more aggressive competitor on the world of pharmaceutical manufacturing. The scope of the project includes a 26,000 square foot building expansion (growing the structure size to a total 385,000 square feet) as well as acquisition and installation of new processing equipment to help the company keep up with production demands coming down the pike.
It is the single largest capitol investment since the plant was constructed in 1976. Alvogen, the parent company of Norwich Pharmaceuticals, plans to have the project completed by fall, 2016.
Norwich Pharmaceuticals remains the sole U.S. based manufacturing site for Alvogen and touts many successful products in its 128-year history, including Ugentine burn ointment, Pepto Bismol, and Norwich Asprin. The company today is focused more on producing prescription medications.