RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.– United Therapeutics Corporation (Nasdaq: UTHR), a public benefit corporation, yesterday unveiled its new net zero energy distribution center located on the company’s co-headquarters campus in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
United Therapeutics Chairperson and CEO Dr. Martine Rothblatt welcomed North Carolina officials, members of the North Carolina General Assembly, and business leaders to a “cord cutting” ceremony to showcase the new distribution center. Dubbed “Phase Five,” the new building is the second site net zero building on the company’s Research Triangle Park Campus, and the fifth overall in its sustainable portfolio. The 55,000-square-foot facility features a new warehouse designed to meet current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) for pharmaceutical products and boasts a microgrid-based electrical system designed to run without any fossil fuels via battery backup using two Tesla Megapacks. Among other things, the facility will be used to store and distribute the company’s newest drug-device combination product, Tyvaso DPI®, which was launched last year. To store pharmaceutical products, a cGMP facility must meet exacting standards for 24/7 temperature control, making a net zero design an especially challenging goal.
“As far as we are aware, this is the first cGMP warehouse designed to meet site net zero energy standards. Achieving this goal required extensive collaboration with the city and county of Durham and with our local electric utility, Duke Energy,” said Dr. Rothblatt. “We are extremely grateful to all our employees and collaborators who worked tirelessly to design and construct this facility, which is one of the keys to supporting our near-term revenue growth expectations.”
“We’re proud to serve as home to a company known not just for its life-changing therapies, but also for its environmental stewardship—and this innovative distribution center exemplifies how North Carolina corporations can lead the way in sustainability,” said North Carolina Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders. “We greatly appreciate United Therapeutics’ partnership and its continued investment in North Carolina’s life sciences industry.”
