Governor Gilmore Announces Pharmaceutical Company Expansions in Loudoun, Pulaski counties

Synthons and Eastern Isotopes reinvest in Virginia

Richmond - Governor Jim Gilmore today announced that two Virginia pharmaceutical companies will expand their operations. Synthons, Inc. will locate a new 16,000-square-foot laboratory and manufacturing facility in Pulaski County with an investment of $1.8 million and 20 employees. The company expects employment to reach 100 by the year 2000. Eastern Isotopes, Inc. will expand its nuclear pharmacy service network in Loudoun County, with a $2 million investment and an initial employment of 16.

"I am excited that these companies have chosen to expand in Virginia," said Governor Gilmore. "They both represent innovation and achievement in the pharmaceutical research industry, and it is exciting to watch them grow."

Synthons, Inc. is currently headquartered at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg. Over the last year, Synthons' customers have requested that the company produce larger quantities of its chemical products. In order to fulfill these orders, Synthons will expand its facility to supply materials for the food, agriculture and pharmaceutical industries. The company plans to expand into its new Pulaski County building in the fall of 1998.

"The people I have worked with in Pulaski County have been great," said Dr. Thomas Piccariello, owner of Synthons, Inc. "They have stood by me and have been very positive about my company locating in their community."

Eastern Isotopes, Inc., will create at least 16 new jobs at its new Loudoun County facility. The nuclear pharmacy service center, which prepares and delivers time-sensitive radiopharmaceutical products for use in diagnostic imaging and therapy, will help Eastern Isotopes to better serve over 70 hospitals and outpatient centers in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The company also owns a facility in Winchester.

"We are excited to be expanding in Virginia," said John Zehner, owner of Eastern Isotopes. "The assistance the workforce provides and the state's great transportation system make this an ideal location."

"Virginia's positive business climate has been just the right medicine for these two emerging pharmaceutical companies," said Virginia Secretary of Commerce and Trade Barry E. DuVal.

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), Pulaski County and the New River Valley Economic Development Alliance assisted Synthons, Inc. with its decision to expand. VEDP and the Loudoun County Department of Economic Development assisted Eastern Isotopes, Inc. with its decision. The Virginia Department of Business Assistance will provide workforce training services for both companies.

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