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CRBR: Nephron Nitrile glove plant holds grand opening in West Columbia

Nephron Nitrile, a new company in West Columbia that produces nitrile gloves, held the grand opening of its manufacturing facility on Wednesday, Dec. 7.

The ceremony attracted leaders from the Midlands as well as around the state, including Governor Henry McMaster, Lt. Governor Pamela Evette, Commerce Secretary Harry Lightsey and state Senator Nikki Setzler.

Lou Kennedy, owner and CEO of Nephron Pharmaceuticals, was inspired to launch Nephron Nitrile in 2021 because of the pandemic-related supply chain shortages and high prices for the gloves, which are an important component of personal protective equipment used by health care workers, food service employees and others. The new plant will enable people to get gloves made here in the U.S. rather than relying on supplies from China and India.

The gloves are produced at the Kennedy Innovation Complex, Nephron’s facility in the Saxe Gotha Industrial Park.

The plant currently only has one manufacturing line up and running but eventually as many as 14 will be in operation, company officials said. Nephron Nitrile will eventually be able to produce 2.5 billion gloves a year and employ 250 people.

Producing the gloves also involves other companies from around the state. The molding forms for the gloves are made by CeramTec, a ceramic and medical technology company with North American headquarters in Laurens.

Nephron Pharmaceuticals produces and manufactures generic inhalation solutions and pre-filled, sterile syringes through its 503B Outsourcing Facility. Its CLIA-certified lab, which conducted COVID-19 testing for its employees and workers at neighboring businesses, ran low on PPE as the pandemic disrupted global supply chains.

Nephron Pharmaceuticals opens new Nitrile center in Lexington County

LEXINGTON COUNTY, S.C. (WACH) — 400,000 square feet, and expected output of 2.5 billion medical gloves each year, and thousands of jobs provided, that’s what leaders say about Nephron’s new Nitrile Facility.

Hundreds of people gathered Wednesday to cut the ribbon on the Pharmaceutical plant’s new glove facility.

The purpose of the facility is “To be able to produce PPE’s in a critical care crisis, in our county, Lexington county,” according to said Senator Nikki Setzler.

To read the entire story from WACH 57 and watch video, click here.

WOLO: Nephron Nitrile Grand Opening in West Columbia

WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) – State leaders gathered in West Columbia for the grand opening of Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation’s new plant. The Nephron Nitrile plant is the first in the country to produce American-made, medical-grade first-in-class nitrile gloves. 

Nephron Nitrile is an expansion of Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation and its an investment of more than $100 million in the Midlands and will bring at least 250 jobs to the area. 

“Yesterday in Florence we announced a plant that will build batteries for BMW. Ladies and gentleman that brings the capital investment in South Carolina along with this one which was announced earlier – up to December 6th – at over $6 billion dollars, that is a record,” says South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster.

CEO Lou Kennedy says the plant will produce around 2.5 billion gloves a year. Nephron’s goal is to reduce America’s dependence on foreign sources of life saving products. 

“We saw our glove prices go from $3.00 to $30.00 during the pandemic and that was if you could find them. So for us to have some control of the supply, help out with the supply chain right here on the east coast where the large part of our population is in the U.S is a good thing,“ says Kennedy. 

Nephron Pharmaceutical Corporation isn’t done yet says Kennedy, there are plans to open another business across the street. “We already make life saving breathing medication, we make all manner of drugs that are on the drug shortage list, injectable drugs, now we are going to make gloves, and our next business will be to make our own syringes.”

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