Lannett manufacturing capacity balloons to 522,000 sq. ft. in short order

A few months ago, Philadelphia-based generics drugmaker Lannett ($LCI) was a little-known company with a single 31,000-square-foot manufacturing site. Now, with a couple of deals, it has three facilities in three states comprising 522,000 square feet of capacity and broken on the national scene with a $1.23 billion deal to buy UCB's U.S.-based generics operations.

Lannett Wednesday announced the deal to buy Kremers Urban Pharmaceuticals from Belgium-based UCB. With that it gets a portfolio of 18 products, but it also gets Kremers 381,000-square-foot facility in Seymour, IN, which Lannett says has substantial manufacturing and warehousing capacity as well as dedicated product development space.

Lannett CEO Arthur Bedrosian

"KU brings considerable manufacturing capacity, a first class research and development team and the potential for advancing our active pharmaceutical ingredients business," Lannett CEO Arthur Bedrosian said in a statement. He said the Kremers Urban will boost Lannett's regulatory expertise, particularly in the areas of difficult-to-manufacture products and Paragraph IV certifications.

In June, Lannett added liquid manufacturing and over-the-counter products to its portfolio with pickup of Silarx Pharmaceuticals for an undisclosed amount. Silarx specializes in liquid products, both generic prescriptions and over-the-counter, which are manufactured at its 110,000-square-foot facility in Carmel, NY.

While the Kremers Urban deal will introduce the company to a much wider pharma audience, Lannett has already caught the attention of the feds. It has announced that it received a subpoena from the Justice Department, which is known to be conducting a criminal investigation into generic drug pricing across the industry.

Fortune magazine recently noted it is the fastest growing company in the country. While its 2014 revenues were just $274 million, it had a 3-year annual growth rate for earnings of 314%. It achieved that in part with aggressive pricing of niche generic products. Fortune pointed out that Lannett's prices on cardiovascular and migraine meds more than doubled last year, with 150% and 124% increases.

- here's the Lannett release