Norman selected for $23.5 million plant

Shaklee Corp. and Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. will break ground early in 1997 for the first phase of a $23.5 million solid dosage pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Norman, with a completion date of about 20 months.

The 58,482 square-foot pharmaceutical facility will include three production lines for pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Of the 58,482 square feet, about 40 percent will be used initially. "We intend to expand as the market grows, but we will begin with the production of Tamsulosin," says Larry Clark, vice president of manufacturing operations for Shaklee. Shaklee currently maintains a 250,000 square-foot facility in Norman, which produces more than half of Shaklee's products. The new expansion will be immediately west of the present facility, said Clark. Tamsulosin, a prostate drug, will be the first phase of production, though FDA approval for the drug is still pending. Clark said that the new facility will eventually provide jobs for about 150 people, with 25 being used for the initial line. The second line will include a quick disintegrating drug, WOWTAB, which provides fast absorption in the digestive tract. The third line will have capacities for Shaklee's tablet manufacturing. Clark said he is uncertain when the other lines will be implemented. Shaklee became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japanese-owned Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. in 1989. Headquartered in San Francisco, Shaklee is a direct sales and marketing company and a provider of nutritional, household and personal care products sold directly to consumers by an independent sales force through distributors in the U.S. and Canada, and through licensing agreements overseas including Japan, the United Kingdom and West Germany. According to Clark, the Norman facility will be the first manufacturing plant in the United States for Yamanouchi. In addition to the Norman project, Shaklee and Yamanouchi broke ground in July for Yamanouchi's first pharmaceutical research facility in the U.S. to open in the fall of 1997 in Palo Alto, Calif. For the fiscal year ending March 31, 1996, Yamanouchi had consolidated net sales of $3.9 billion and had invested $386 million in research and development.

Copyright 1996
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.