Saptalis Pharmaceuticals to open first plant in Hauppauge

Suffolk County’s growing pharmaceuticals industry may add another factory next year, officials said.

Saptalis Pharmaceuticals LLC plans to open its first plant across the street from its Hauppauge headquarters. The 28,000-square-foot facility at 20 Davids Dr. will be used to produce generic prescription and over-the-counter drugs.

The company will initially purchase the rights to manufacture and sell drugs that were developed by others but are no longer under patent protection, said Polireddy Dondeti, CEO and co-founder. He also said the company will manufacture its own drugs once they have been approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration.

“We want to build a good manufacturing company,” he said last month. “Our specialty is prescription products. . . . Our goal is to provide high-quality medicine at affordable prices.”

Saptalis’ expansion plan, valued at nearly $2 million, was endorsed last month by the county’s Industrial Development Agency. The agency awarded $356,542 in tax breaks, including nearly $285,000 off property taxes, or a 27.5 percent reduction, over 10 years.

In return, the drugmaker pledged to add 24 jobs by 2020 to its payroll of 22. Records show employees earn, on average, $60,665 per year, excluding medical insurance and retirement benefits.

Dondeti and Tanya Akimova, who co-founded Saptalis, told the IDA board that without Suffolk’s assistance, the company would have to expand in Virginia or Florida.

The 2-year-old business isn’t yet making money, the executives said, projecting annual revenue of $4.5 million in the first year after the factory opens in January, and $78 million within five years.

Dondeti and Akimova once worked for Hi-Tech Pharmacal Co. Inc., a manufacturer of generic prescription nasal sprays, in Amityville. In 2014, Hi-Tech was purchased by drugmaker Akorn Inc. of Lake Forest, Illinois, for $640 million.

The Davids Drive building that will house Saptalis’ production lines and warehouse is being purchased by investor Jeenarine Narine, who will lease space to the company, in which he holds a 12.5 percent stake.

In November, Saptalis received a $6.5 million infusion from investors, according to a recent report by PitchBook Data Inc. and the National Venture Capital Association.

The company plans to manufacture drugs in multiple forms including liquid, semisolid and cream. It expects to seek FDA approval for its own products by Oct. 1.

The new factory is across the street from Saptalis’ 10,000-square-foot base and research laboratory, according to company attorney Andrew D. Presberg. He added Saptalis could purchase other Hauppauge buildings in the future.

IDA executive director Anthony J. Catapano said the agency wants to support local drugmakers: “This is a growing industry that’s creating a lot of jobs in the county.”