Shapiro touts pharma investment in Philadelphia

The City of Philadelphia’s life science footprint continues to grow. 

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Gov. Josh Shapiro held a press conference at Adare Pharma Solutions in Northeast Philadelphia Friday morning to tout state investment in economic development and to celebrate Adare’s move from New Jersey to Pennsylvania.

The drug development and manufacturing company received $2.9 million in state support last year to facilitate the expansion of existing Philadelphia facilities and a corporate headquarters move that is expected to add 115 jobs within three years. 

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“When it came down to it, I live in Wayne and much of our team is here,” Tom Sellig, CEO of Adare, said Friday. “We had two great sites here, but more importantly, I think about access to a highly-skilled workforce and a range of employees, a large metropolitan area in a good geographic area and (a) home to many great colleges and universities.” 

The Shapiro administration and local officials toured the facility Friday morning before holding a press conference to highlight Adare’s work and the state investment that helped spur the move from Lawrenceville, New Jersey, to Philadelphia. 

Shapiro said Pennsylvania should get used to doing “big things again,” noting that Adare’s growth can be a testament to the commonwealth’s opportunities. 

“One of the biggest long-term challenges we faced in Pennsylvania is that we weren’t competing effectively when it came to economic development …That has changed over the last two years,” Shapiro said. “Instead of focusing on a whole bunch of things, we decided to focus on five key pillars of our economy, including life sciences and manufacturing.” 

Shapiro noted that the life sciences sector contributes $62 billion to the U.S. economy and employs more than 100,000 Pennsylvanians. 

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“Pennsylvania is clearly becoming a hub for the life sciences…I need to acknowledge that Boston is doing a little bit better than us in this space, but we are on their heels and we’re competing with them again to be able to take the reins of the life sciences economy and show we can grow in that space.”

Adare is expanding its two Philadelphia manufacturing and packaging facilities – a 175,000-square-foot facility at 7722 Dungan Road and a 128,000-square-foot facility at 1100 Orthodox Street – and moved its headquarters to the Dungan Road location as part of the company’s $16.8 million expansion. 

The company received a funding proposal from DCED for a $2.4 million Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority loan, a $460,000 Pennsylvania First grant, and a $100,000 workforce development grant to train workers.

In 2023, Shapiro unveiled his administration’s economic development plan, which maps out the state’s strengths and barriers to economic development and offers ideas for how policymakers can supercharge the state’s economy.

DCED Secretary Rick Siger touted the public-private partnership Friday and said Adare’s move is “emblematic” of the administration’s efforts to foster economic growth. 

“We’re helping businesses expand and relocate here, creating jobs that our residents deserve,” Siger said, “and we’re focused on our North Star – which is creating real economic opportunity for Pennsylvanians.”