AmerisourceBergen lays off 365 Houston-area employees, closes Sugar Land facility

The PharMEDium production facility in Sugar Land will close its doors and lay off 265 employees after parent company AmerisourceBergen, whose Chesterbrook, PA location is pictured here, announced it would shutter thecompounding unit. less The PharMEDium production facility in Sugar Land will close its doors and lay off 265 employees after parent company AmerisourceBergen, whose Chesterbrook, PA location is pictured here, announced it would ... more Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close AmerisourceBergen lays off 365 Houston-area employees, closes Sugar Land facility 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

AmerisourceBergen, a prescription drug distributor, will lay off 365 employees at its PharMEDium compounding facility in Sugar Land starting in April, the company reported to the Texas Workforce Commission.

The Pennsylvania company will also shutter the location at 12620 W. Airport Boulevard by April 20, company officials said. Employees were notified Wednesday of the layoffs.

PharMEDium, which prepares outsourced sterile drug compounds for hospitals, is shuttering all of its locations after more than two years of major regulatory and operational problems, according to the Wall Street Journal. AmerisourceBergen acquired PharMEDium in 2015.

"In light of the increased regulatory and commercial challenges, coupled with the difficulty of making progress on remediation and continued financial burden, AmerisourceBergen has made the decision to close the PharMEDium business," said Lauren Esposito, an AmerisourceBergen spokesperson.

In 2018, California's Board of Pharmacy banned the distribution of medications from the Sugar Land facility after it identified 14 violations at the site.

Last year, a federal judge ordered a permanent injunction barring PharMEDium from manufacturing or distributing drugs from its Tennessee facility after FDA inspections revealed unsanitary conditions and other violations. Federal officials then required the Sugar Land facility to hire an independent regulatory expert to ensure compliance.

Approximately 1,000 PharMEDium employees nationwide will be laid off. Employees have been encouraged to apply for positions within AmerisourceBergen, which has offices in Frisco, Amarillo, Carrollton and Roanoke, Esposito said.

gwendolyn.wu@chron.com

Twitter: @gwendolynawu