PHILADELPHIA-On a growth curve, Lannett Co. Inc., the oldest generic drug manufacturing company in the US, signed a five-year lease at a 65,000-sf building. The site is within the 136-acre, 30-building Byberry Industrial Park near Northeast Philadelphia Airport.

The lease, which begins Sept. 1, also gives 64-year-old Lannett an option to buy the building on the seven-acre site at a later date, according to a statement from company president and CEO Arthur P. Bedrosian. Bedrosian couldn't be reached by GlobeSt.com's publication as to the value of the transaction. However, area industrial brokers familiar with the northeast Philadelphia submarket tell GlobeSt.com the estimated value of the lease is at least $1.3 million, based on estimated average gross rent at the park of $4 per sf. The Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. operates Byberry.

In his statement, Bedrosian says the deal was done at this time to broaden the company's manufacturing, pharmaceutical development and warehousing capacity. The new space will give Lannett a total 168,000 sf of operating space. The company now occupies a total 103,000 sf of office, laboratory, manufacturing, distribution and research and development space at its nearby 9000 State Rd. headquarters and at its Torresdale Avenue quarters in northeast Philadelphia.

The new space will serve as Lannett's main warehouse and will become the company's headquarters at a later date, Bedrosian says. "Our pharmaceutical development efforts have grown substantially over the last few years and we now have 13 new drug applications for generic drug products pending, and 56 products in various stages of development," Bedrosian says. The building, constructed by Anvil Construction Co., will also allow Lannett to double its manufacturing capacity and expand its pharmaceutical development capability, the company's CEO says.