LI generic drug firm growing in employees, revenue

Few companies are growing on Long Island these days, and fewer still are growing rapidly.

Among the exceptions is Amneal Pharmaceuticals Llc of Hauppauge, a manufacturer of generic drugs that has gone from about 100 employees and scant sales a few years ago to more than 700 workers on the Island and about $460 million in revenues.

The generic drug industry has been the place to be in recent times, with sales and employment both growing. But industry experts say that the boom is slowing and that consolidation of the crowded business is inevitable. But that's a bit down the road.

For now, it's all glory. Last week the privately held, 7-year-old company was given the Largest Business Achievement Award by the Hauppauge Industrial Association.

"We've done very well with our acquisitions, and we expect to grow aggressively," said Jim Luce, Amneal's executive vice president. In 2008 Amneal acquired Interpharm Holdings Inc. of Hauppauge and kept Interpharm's approximately 375 Island employees.

Luce said the company now has about 1,000 employees, including 724 on the Island. Amneal, the seventh-largest generic drugmaker in the country, plans to add another 400 employees in the next five years. It also hopes to become one of the top five manufacturers in the United States in the same time period, Luce said.

Employment and wages have been growing on the Island in pharmaceutical preparations manufacturing, which includes generics. According to the state labor department, the industry employed 8,188 in 2010, up from 5,729 in 2000. Median salaries have risen over that decade to $61,433, from $39,164. The number of companies, however, has shrunk a little, from 52 in 2000 to 49 last year.

Bob Billings, vice president for policy at the Generic Pharmaceutical Association in Washington, D.C., said the industry was growing 10 percent to 11 percent in the late 1990s and 2000s. In the last few years growth has been 4 percent to 5 percent. A drop in the number of drugs coming off patents -- which makes them eligible to be generic -- is part of the reason, Billings said. Also, he said, "We went through a great growth spurt. You have to ask, Are we getting to the point where we are too saturated? I believe there is going to be a consolidation. When is that point? I don't know."