Cherokee Pharmaceuticals Signs Long-Term Contract with Dupont Applied Biosciences

Cherokee Pharmaceuticals LLC has signed a new five-and-a-half-year commercial supply agreement with DuPont Applied BioSciences, a division of DuPont. Cherokee will manufacture a new product for DuPont using a DuPont proprietary fermentation process at its Riverside, PA facility.

"We are excited to have this opportunity to work with DuPont, a leader in the biosciences field," says John Elliot, president of Cherokee Pharmaceuticals. "This agreement is a strong testament to our ability to compete successfully in the global marketplace, even in this tighter economic climate.” 

Initial production is scheduled to begin in late 2009. Over the term of the contract, production is expected to take a significant proportion of Cherokee's substantial fermentation capacity. The manufacturing of this product will create more job opportunities, although the number of additional employees that will be needed is not yet available. Facility development work has already begun at the Cherokee facility in order to meet the requirements of the proprietary process. The value of the contract has not been disclosed. 

The DuPont contract is consistent with Cherokee Pharmaceuticals' strategy to diversify its customer base. Since acquiring the facility in January 2008, Cherokee Pharmaceuticals has initiated the three-fold expansion of its multipurpose manufacturing facility to increase its active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing capacity. The company also developed and launched a strategic partnership with SAFC, a member of the Sigma Aldrich Group, offering sourcing and distribution services.

Cherokee Pharmaceuticals LLC, a PRWT Services Inc. company, is a bulk chemical manufacturing and distribution company producing active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and providing fermentation capabilities, as well as process development, analytical laboratory testing, fine chemical sourcing, distribution, and warehousing services. Cherokee is the country’s first and only minority-owned outsourced API provider. For information, visit www.cherokee-pharma.com.