Pharma company Purolite is investing $190 million in a Chester County facility

Purolite, the King of Prussia company that makes resin beads for water-purification and medical pills, says it will spend $190 million turning a former W.L. Gore facility in Chester County into its latest factory as its new owner ramps up production.

The plant, in a section that is also home to a string of mushroom farm sheds, is the first in the United States for Purolite’s Global Biologics division, which makes products for medical devices, drugs, and diet supplements, said Hayley Crowe, general manager for the company, in a statement.

Located at 380 Starr Rd., in the Landenberg section of New Garden Township, the new plant “will bring security of supply to our global pharmaceutical and biotech customers,” Crowe added.

Purolite’s existing plants include locations in Northeast Philadelphia and several cities in China, Romania, and Wales.

Purolite, founded by brothers Steve and Don Brodie in 1981, was purchased by Minnesota-based Ecolab for $3.7 billion in 2021. At the time, Purolite sales totaled around $400 million, while Ecolab revenues topped $12 billion. Last year, Ecolab said it was opening a new $40 million plant near its offices in King of Prussia, to employ around 70, to meet rising demand for the company’s basic material, resin beads.

Ecolab officials said at the time of the purchase that they expected to rapidly increase production of Purolite’s beads for use in purifying mRNA vaccines, monoclonal antibodies for cancer treatments, and other profitable, growing medical therapies.

State support for the Landenberg project includes a $1 million grant from the Pennsylvania First public subsidy program designed to help lure investment and jobs to the state. The state has also encouraged Purolite to apply for a manufacturing and reinvestment tax deduction under Pennsylvania’s Qualified Manufacturing Innovation and Reinvestment Deduction program.

“Pennsylvania is aggressively competing” with other states for biotech and manufacturing jobs, said Rick Siger, Gov. Shapiro’s head of community and economic development, in a statement. The plant will be built and expanded in stages, with the first stage over the next two years.

Siger noted that Shapiro has asked legislators in Harrisburg for more manufacturing subsidies in the current state budget.

The new plant is the latest in a string of investments in manufacturing facilities in Chester County, the richest of the state’s 67 counties. According to Gary Smith and Mike Grigalonis of the Chester County Economic Development Council, these include: