Pharmaceutical Company Launches Major Expansion

SALISBURY — Shovels officially met ground last Friday as Jubilant Cadista Pharmaceuticals (JCP) Inc. broke ground on a new expansion to their Salisbury facility that will more than double its size and add 200 to 300 new jobs within the next five years.

JCP has continued to grow steadily in Salisbury since 2005 when Jubilant Life Sciences Limited acquired control of the company.

“When our parent company, Jubilant Life Sciences Limited, acquired a majority stake in this company eight years ago, there were about 30 people working here,” said Scott Delaney, CEO of Jubilant Cadista. “Today, nearly 300 employees help to produce 14 product families at this facility. The site expansion will allow us to grow and accommodate our plans of doubling the number of products over the next two years. During the next several years, the addition of these and possibly more products currently in the pipeline will open opportunities for the addition of up to 200 or more jobs.”

JCP specializes in generics, which means that the company “develops, manufactures, markets and distributes generic pharmaceuticals products” across the country, according to a release from Jubilant. While generics are chemically equivalent to brand name drugs, they are generally much more affordable.

Production of the generics requires a varied staff with all levels of education and experience, a perfect formula for Salisbury, according to Mayor Jim Ireton.

“That is exactly the kind of organization that we need to attract and keep in the city,” he said at the groundbreaking Friday.

The influx of new jobs is expected to begin this year, with 40 to 60 new positions anticipated in 2013. Roughly 50 more will likely be added every year for the next several. The 96,720-square-foot expansion will include production, packaging, warehouse and distribution space and a new main office location. Once completed in late-2014, the final facility, which serves as Jubilant’s headquarters in the U.S., will be 186,720 square feet.

“This kind of growth could not, and cannot, happen without tremendous support from our parent company and the encouragement of the city of Salisbury, Wicomico County and the state of Maryland,” said Delaney.

It’s a win-win for Cadista and Salisbury, remarked Ireton, with the business and the city both growing together.

“Our citizens are excited for Cadista as they break ground for this expansion. As Salisbury begins to grow in this economic recovery, we can point to this international corporation as an example of what can be done on Maryland’s Eastern Shore,” said the mayor. “My staff is committed to seeing Cadista through this expansion as a partner to business. I am excited to say that Salisbury continues to be the commercial, industrial and residential hub of Delmarva, and as we work to be the best place in Maryland to do business, we can point to the success of Cadista as a spectacular achievement.”

This growth is all part of a trend, Ireton continued, with the city seeing a 775-percent increase in the estimated cost of construction in the last two years as well as a 145-percent boost in revenue brought in through permitting. The goal is to make Salisbury “the best place in Maryland to start and to grow a business,” said Ireton.

The growth being seen in Salisbury is reflective of the state of Maryland as a whole, according to Dominick Murray, the Maryland Secretary of the Department of Business and Economics. Jubilant is a prime example of the type of intelligent development that the state is eager to see bloom, he said.

“Maryland is a global leader in the life sciences, home to world-class research institutions and hundreds of companies performing critical, life-saving work every day,” said Murray. “We are proud to count Jubilant Cadista among the core of our robust and growing life sciences community, and could not be more thrilled by the successes the company has had in Salisbury. We wish Jubilant Cadista and its employees continued success as they undertake the impressive expansion effort they began here today.”

Murray added that the state is poised to have a strong next few years, stating that Maryland is number one in entrepreneurial spirit and one of the next “boom states,” according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

“I’ve got a message to you from the governor that the whole state of Maryland is the place to do business. You guys typify it here,” he said.

Besides the jobs created in the pharmaceutical industry by the expansion, the construction field has benefitted as well. Local companies Gillis Gilkerson and AWB Engineers, both located in Salisbury, are handling the construction and the architecture of the project, respectively.

“This is a project in size and scope that underscores what can happen in Salisbury when opportunity meets commitment,” said Dwight Miller, president of Gillis Gilkerson. “It’s been the start of a wonderful partnership and we are thrilled that Cadista has selected Salisbury and Wicomico County to call home.”