IRIX History

IRIX History | Meaning of IRIX | Corporate Structure | Facility Locations

- 1996 - IRIX is a closely held company. It was formed by two ex-Roche executives, J. Guy Steenrod and Panos Kalaritis, Ph.D. The company was incorporated and began its operations in November of 1996 at a local university, Francis Marion University, through an incubator program. The initial funding for starting the company was made available by private investors in the Florence, South Carolina, area.

- 1998 - Driven by the growth of its business, the company purchased a 30,000 sq ft facility on 11 acres of land its current headquarters, that provided the research laboratory, GMP supply production, and office space the company needed.

- 1999 - The first pilot plant facility was constructed.

- 2000 - Capabilities were expanded by adding a new β-lactam R&D laboratory and a second pilot plant facility with four processing bays.

- 2001 - The company acquired 60 acres of land for future facility expansion.

- 2002 - In the same year, the company also acquired a full-scale commercial products plant in Greenville, South Carolina.

- 2003 - The company added a commercial "high containment" facility and high-pressure capability in its manufacturing plant in Greenville.

- 2004 - IRIX constructed a commercial-scale high-pressure and cyrogenic (low-temp) production building at the Greenville facility.

- 2005 - The company institutes full stability program with modern chambers per ICH guidlines.

- 2006 - May, FDA conducts general inspection of the Greenville facility with no 483s being issued. The 2nd consecutive with no 483s.

- 2006 - June, FDA conducts general inspection of the Florence facility with no 483s being issued. This was the first visit by the FDA to the Florence site.