PCI breaks ground on new clinical storage and distribution facility

Packaging Coordinators Inc. (PCI; Philadelphia) has begun construction of a 93,000-sq. ft. storage and distribution facility, following through on an earlier decision to expand in this area in 2011 with the construction of a clinical packaging plant. The combination will complement a 2012 opening of a standalone clinical distribution facility in Treforest, Wales.

The new distribution facility, close by the Chicago Rockford International Airport, will support ambient and cold-chain storage of investigational medicines and will be DEA-approved for storage of Schedule II-V controlled substances. PCI currently distributes clinical/investigational medicines to investigator sites worldwide, and says it is adding capacity to address emerging markets in South America, Asia, Russia, and Eastern Europe.

“We are very excited about the opportunity to build out our distribution capabilities in support of business growth,” said Bob Misher, SVP of Global Clinical Services at PCI, in a statement. “The ability to package, store, globally distribute, and process returns of investigational medicines all in one state-of-the-art campus is a real benefit to our clients. This new facility helps us strategically position our business to further support industry trends we are witnessing; the first being international growth in the execution of our clients’ clinical studies, and the second being clients’ investigational medicines needing Cold Chain storage and shipment at 2-8°C, -20°C, and -80°C.

Within the past year, the former AndersonBrecon Packaging Div. of AmerisourceBergen (one of whose assets is the Rockford, IL facility) was acquired by Frazier Healthcare and combined with the existing assets of Packaging Coordinators, Inc.