DuPont begins silicone production at South Carolina plant

COOPER RIVER, S.C—Dupont started production at its new DuPont Liveo Healthcare manufacturing facility in Cooper River, marking the completion of a construction and expansion project that took just about 18 months to complete.

Liveo Pharma silicone tubing for biopharma processing is being manufactured at the new Cooper River facility in an ISO Class 7 Cleanroom. The tubing is manufactured with the same quality principles as those of DuPont's Healthcare Industries Materials Site in Hemlock, Mich.

DuPont, per its policy, declined to disclose the facility's square footage, capacity or investment details in the Cooper River plant. The company did note that, with the expansion, 25 jobs have been added and an additional 25 could be created once the production ramps up.

"The manufacturing expansion at Cooper River is a key milestone in our growth history and contributes to business continuity of our customers, as well as offering a highly reliable and sustainable supply," Eugenio Toccalino, global business director at DuPont Healthcare and Specialty Lubricants said in an email.

Toccalino added that investments like the one in South Carolina will contribute to establishing a stronger manufacturing footprint to help alleviate pressure on supply chains and help customers grow in their respective markets.

The South Carolina site, located in Berkeley County, will bring additional extrusion capacity online over the next two years to serve strategic customers in the short term and expand its Liveo Healthcare customer base with additional supply in the medium term.

"We have operated the Cooper River site for decades with different manufacturing facilities," said Toccalino. "The DuPont Liveo Healthcare plant and quality lab are newly constructed to meet the stringent medical industry requirements and best practices developed at our established site located in Michigan. DuPont's facility (in Cooper River) has all newly installed health care cleanrooms, equipment and quality lab."

The Cooper River facility is an ISO 9001:2015 registered site, utilizing cGMPs for Liveo.

"This location was chosen for the new facility because of the existing DuPont infrastructure, its proximity to an ocean port and the availably of a skilled labor force," Toccalino said.

He added that the new manufacturing facility is part of the Liveo business continuity plan, and an expectation from large pharmaceutical companies and single-use integrator customers to offer solutions from multiple sites while following the same quality principles.

"First batches of silicone tubing were successfully produced in May, and planned production will ramp up," Bill Alexander, site and unit leader at Cooper River said in an email. "The site has enabled the creation of 25 positions at start-up, with an additional 25 positions expected to be created as we ramp up operations over the next two years."

DuPont is planning a grand opening event at the end of July, and it expects state officials, DuPont senior leadership and key contractors to attend the event.

Kristen O. Lanier, Berkeley County economic development director, said the facility will have a significant impact on the community.

"Biotechnology innovation is a growing sector with an $11 billion annual economic impact and over 40,000 jobs in the State of South Carolina," Lanier said in a statement. "We thank DuPont for their commitment to this community and for creating more high-paying jobs for the local work force."

The South Carolina expansion is one part of the global picture for DuPont, which is working to expand manufacturing across the world.

"DuPont Liveo Healthcare is expanding its manufacturing footprint globally to better serve its global and local customers," Toccalino said. "It is also establishing a manufacturing footprint in China as of (the second half) 2022, dedicated to the fast-growing customers in the region. This acknowledges the need to better serve customers locally and ensure a seamless supply chain."

With these increased capabilities, DuPont is committed to serving the health care market, offering high-quality, high-performance solutions, applications, material science expertise and strong regulatory support to address health care customer specific needs and challenges.