Cherry Hill Pharmaceutical Company Honored For COVID-19 Efforts

CHERRY HILL, NJ — Cherry Hill Mayor Susan Shin Angulo recently expressed her appreciation for a pharmaceutical company’s efforts to treat patients who are critically ill with the coronavirus.

Shin Angulo visited Hikma Pharmaceuticals’ manufacturing facility in Cherry Hill on April 9, the company announced.

During her visit, she presented a proclamation praising the company’s efforts to o produce many of the medicines used to treat coronavirus patients who are fighting for their lives.

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“Hikma’s Cherry Hill manufacturing plant and its employees have been one of the country’s most important producers of medicines used by hospitals to treat critically ill patients throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” Shin Angulo said. “On behalf of the township, I am pleased to recognize Hikma and its dedicated Cherry Hill employees for their critical role in helping our community and the country during this time of crisis.”

“We are proud to be a longstanding member of the Cherry Hill community with a big impact on the nation’s health,” said Omar Khrisat, General Manager of Hikma’s Cherry Hill facility. “I am especially impressed with our employees’ commitment during these unprecedented times. The demand for many of our medicines has been extraordinary, and thanks to their incredible efforts, we have quickly responded and continued to deliver the medicines needed by hospitals, doctors and their patients during this critical time.”

As the third-largest US manufacturer of generic injectable medicines, Hikma provides 11 of the 13 medicines most used in ICU’s to treat coronavirus patients on ventilators, according to the company. Most of those medicines are made in Cherry Hill.

Approximately 220 million vials out of the 300 million vials that Hikma supplies to the US market are sourced from Cherry Hill, which accounts for about 75 percent of the total volume.

Hikma purchased the Cherry Hill facility from Baxter in 2010. Since then, it has invested more than $150 million in upgrading and expanding the site.

It has significantly upgraded its manufacturing capabilities, and is one of the largest employers in Cherry Hill, with 650 employees. The company has hired more than 170 new employees since the beginning of 2020 and continues to hire.

When pandemic-related job losses hit the Cherry Hill area, Hikma launched an employee matching donation campaign to support the Cherry Hill Food Pantry as its employees expressed a desire to help the community.

The donations from Cherry Hill employees provided 60,000 meals for the local community in 2020.

In addition to producing medicines used to treat the coronavirus, Hikma has also played a leading role in addressing shortages of critical medicines in the US, launching more than 20 medicines into shortage situations in recent years.