Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. (DSI), announced the acquisition of a 140,000 square foot facility in Bethlehem Township, Pennsylvania from Amcor, a global packaging manufacturer. This acquisition, worth $10.25 milion, enables DSI to leverage existing resources to more cost-effectively supplement its operations rather than build a new facility. The facility is expected to be operational in the summer or early fall of 2011 and is expected to package some of the company’s portfolio of marketed products, such as Benicar, Welchol and Azor. Once the facility is operating at full capacity, it is expected to assume an increasing responsibility for packaging the entire line of marketed products in the US, as well as perform compounding operations for select products.

“Creating and protecting family-sustaining jobs in Pennsylvania is one of this administration’s highest priorities, so I’m pleased to announce Daiichi Sankyo’s decision to select PA as the site for its first-ever US packaging and manufacturing plant,” said Governor Corbett. “By creating approximately 80 jobs, continuing the productive use of a facility that would otherwise have been closed, and injecting more than $15 million in outside investment into the local economy, this project will have a definite positive impact on the Lehigh Valley region.”

DSI conducted a comprehensive national site search with McCallum Sweeney Consulting to identify an existing facility that mirrored the company’s packaging goals and specifications. After a national screening of 62 sites in 48 communities in 12 states, the company selected the site in Bethlehem. Upon completing the initial phase of the renovation, DSI plans to hire approximately 80 new employees and will create a positive economic impact through related purchasing of goods and services from local businesses.

“This acquisition diversifies our company’s capabilities and allows us to streamline our operations and minimize commercialization risk by exerting greater control over the life cycle of our products, from research and development through packaging and distribution”, said Jeff Lane, vice president of Operations, Daiichi Sankyo, Inc. “We are excited to be opening a facility in Bethlehem and look forward to a productive future working relationship and becoming a part of the local community. The Governor's Action Team, Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation, the Northampton County and City of Bethlehem were invaluable partners in helping to make this milestone possible.”

The Daiichi Sankyo Group is dedicated to the creation and supply of innovative pharmaceutical products to address the diversified, unmet medical needs of patients in both mature and emerging markets. While maintaining its portfolio of marketed pharmaceuticals for hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and bacterial infections, the Group is engaged in the development of treatments for thrombotic disorders and focused on the discovery of novel oncology and cardiovascular-metabolic therapies. They created a "Hybrid Business Model," which will respond to market and customer diversity and optimize growth opportunities across the value chain.