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Onshoring nitrile glove production in the USA

CeramTec North America LLC enters into partnership with Nephron Pharmaceutical Corporation

Image: Brent Pahach (President of CeramTec Laurens), Bill Kennedy (Owner and Director at Nephron) and his wife Lou Kennedy (Owner and CEO of Nephron)

CeramTec North America LLC, a worldwide leader in advanced ceramics headquartered in Laurens, South Carolina, has partnered with South Carolina pharmaceutical giant, Nephron Pharmaceutical Corporation, to onshore nitrile glove production in the USA.

In this era of the COVID-19 pandemic, the lack of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) exposed serious gaps in the medical industry’s supply chain. U.S. dependency on offshore suppliers to produce even the most basic of medical goods such as gloves and masks led to shortages amid a global crisis. During a news conference on July 15, 2021, Nephron’s owner and CEO Lou Kennedy, whose company has been directly impacted by the shortage of PPE over the last 18 months, announced the opening of Nephron Nitrile, a new $100M plant in the Midlands of South Carolina that will produce medical-grade gloves. “This sends a signal to the nation and the world that South Carolina can be ground zero for the effort to onshore domestic manufacturing of PPE,” Kennedy said.

President of CeramTec North America Brent Pahach said, “It is exciting to be part of such an important project, and to team up with Nephron to bring this capability into South Carolina means great things for our state and the nation.” CeramTec will be providing various sizes of ceramic glove formers used in the production of the nitrile gloves.

CeramTec North America is a wholly owned subsidiary of CeramTec GmbH and a leading manufacturer of high-tech, custom-engineered ceramic solutions, including hermetic components with the Ceramaseal® trademark.