North Carolina High-Volume Manufacturing Facility for Corning Valor® Glass | Pharmaceutical Technologies | Corning

Corning to Build High-Volume Valor Glass Facility, Creating Over 300 Jobs in N.C.

Corning to Build High-Volume Valor Glass Facility

Corning announced Wednesday, April 4, that Durham, North Carolina, will be the site of the first high-volume manufacturing facility for Corning Valor® Glass, an innovative new pharmaceutical glass packaging solution that the company launched in July 2017.

Government officials and key customers joined company leaders Wednesday in celebrating a Corning investment that will create more than 300 jobs in Durham.

“We’re grateful to work with so many leaders who share our vision,” said Wendell P. Weeks, Corning’s chairman, chief executive officer, and president. “We’re proud that Durham County’s talented workforce will help make Valor a reality for patients around the world. And we look forward to a very bright and growing future in this community.”

The facility is a significant investment that demonstrates Corning’s commitment to Valor Glass. It is part of a plan to invest $500 million and create 1,000 new U.S. jobs as the first part of an investment of $4 billion leading to 4,000 new high-tech jobs. Corning anticipates that the new facility will be operational by year-end 2019.

"We’re proud that Durham County’s talented workforce will help make Valor a reality for patients around the world."

The Durham investment builds on last year’s announcement of a $100 million investment for Valor Glass development and manufacturing in Big Flats and Erwin, New York. That investment will create 185 jobs and support more than 380 jobs overall in the Southern Tier of New York state.

“A lot of great people helped make this investment possible,” Wendell said of the planned facility in Durham. “Our customers, Merck and Pfizer, who collaborated with us to create Valor Glass; our federal, state, and local officials who have fostered such a positive business environment; the Office of American Innovation, which is creating an environment that encourages U.S. innovation and manufacturing; and the FDA’s Emerging Technology Team, which is committed to streamlining regulations so new innovations like Valor Glass can reach patients quickly.”

Both Merck and Pfizer were present when Corning introduced Valor Glass from the White House in July 2017. Leaders from each company said Wednesday that they continue to view Valor Glass as a major breakthrough for pharmaceutical packaging, and delegates from their organizations joined the celebration on-site.

 “We have been part of the Valor program since its outset,” said Sanat Chattopadhyay, executive vice president and president, Merck Manufacturing Division, in a Corning news release about the facility. “We are thrilled to take part in today’s ceremony which celebrates the outstanding progress in the development of this remarkable product. This technology is a critical advancement in pharmaceutical packaging.”

 “We are proud to have partnered with Corning to advance this revolutionary new glass for medicines that are critical to patients,” said Kirsten Lund-Jurgensen, executive vice president and president, Pfizer Global Supply, in a Corning news release about the facility. “Our ongoing testing at several of our major sterile injectable U.S. manufacturing sites continues to show promise, and we continue to work with Corning to assess the full potential of this new, innovative glass.” 

“We are celebrating today another example of innovation, excellence, and leadership in biotechnology and life sciences right here in North Carolina."

At Wednesday’s announcement, North Carolina leaders recognized the importance of this innovation and highlighted how such advancements can strengthen the economy and change people’s lives.

U.S. Senator Richard Burr, of North Carolina, thanked the Corning team in Durham, as well as Merck, and Pfizer, and said he will continue to push the FDA to recognize new innovations.

“This is about patients. This is about the American people and people around the world,” said Senator Burr, who has toured all of Corning’s facilities in the state. “This is about producing a product that goes in the vial that meets the gold standard of the FDA. And it’s about matching it with a vial that meets the gold standard now and well into the future. That’s why we’re so excited about the creation of Valor Glass, and we are excited in North Carolina to have an additional piece of Corning here.”

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper looked back at Corning’s longstanding role in building a legacy of innovation across the state.

“We are celebrating today another example of innovation, excellence, and leadership in biotechnology and life sciences right here in North Carolina,” Governor Cooper said.

The investment draws on Corning’s century-long history in the Life Sciences Vessels market and more than 50 years of manufacturing in North Carolina. Corning has seven locations in North Carolina, including four of the world’s largest fiber and cabling facilities. It currently employs 4,000 people full-time in the state. Adding to this legacy, Corning is building its new site adjacent to an existing Corning Life Sciences facility in order to leverage many synergies across its two businesses. This maintains the strategy of building manufacturing facilities in close proximity to customers, and the area has a skilled workforce supported by an education system that provides critical training programs.

(Published April 6, 2018)

Corning to Construct High-Volume Manufacturing Facility for Corning Valor® Glass
At an event in Durham, North Carolina, Corning announced an investment for a new facility to manufacture Corning Valor® Glass.