When Akron Pharma Inc., a global pharmaceutical company, bought a 48,000-square-foot warehouse facility in Leland Innovation Park last year for $4.2 million, the company was only getting started.

Founded in 2015 by CEO and managing director Kumarswamy Maruri, Fairfield, New Jersey-based Akron Pharma is a pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution company that produces generic over-the-counter pharmaceuticals with an emphasis on affordability. Akron Pharma has grown dramatically in recent years, and its recent move into Brunswick County is a key step forward on that journey, officials say.

“We’ll move our entire portfolio to the Leland area in the next three years’ time,” said Vinod Reddy, vice president of global operations for the company. “By 2030, we want to be established in North Carolina, specifically in the Leland area.”

The private-label distributor currently employs 40 to 45 people in the U.S. and about 500 in India at its two major manufacturing sites.

Akron Pharma’s mission to provide affordable over-the-counter drugs is primarily achievable through large-scale manufacturing, and a year after entering the area, the company plans to open another facility – a 50,000-square-foot manufacturing building – in Leland, Reddy said.

“If we move our manufacturing … we’ll set up another subsidiary distribution and also sales and administration office,” he said.

Although the company hasn’t finalized the location of the proposed manufacturing center, Reddy says it’s likely the hub will be in the Leland area, near the current warehouse facility.

Akron Pharma isn’t the only major company with an eye on the region. Leland Innovation Park, a 630-acre industrial park off U.S. 74/76, currently houses beverage distributors such as Coca-Cola Consolidated Inc. and Adams Beverages of North Carolina.

According to Reddy, Akron Pharma’s move to North Carolina is spurred partially by the region’s strategic location, specifically the ports and Leland Innovation Park’s proximity to two major highways.

“There are very few industrial sites that have direct access to major U.S. highways … having that direct access to those two major roadways is a big thing, especially in terms of distribution of products,” said Barnes Sutton, Leland’s economic and community development director.

In addition to the location, lower operational costs and the area’s overall development progress are more draws for companies like Akron Pharma that want to scale up.

Sutton also said that the town of Leland is drafting an incentive program to eventually draw more companies to Leland Innovation Park. The proposal entails a company investing $10 million or more in capital improvement and raising property tax assessment by 50% or more to receive a portion of the new property tax back for a fixed number of years.

Airlie Pharma, Akron’s subsidiary and logistics arm, is expected to grow dramatically in the next few years if the company continues to expand in the area.

The company, according to Reddy, is also considering potentially manufacturing prescription products in the future.

“As of now, we have around eight local people working for us,” Reddy said. “If we establish manufacturing, in the next three years, at least, we would need 50-60 people, and we plan to hire locally.”