Our Corporate Timeline

Exela^® was founded in 2005 by Phanesh Koneru, Ph.D., LL.M., a former practicing pharmacist, an experienced patent attorney, and an executive in the generic pharma industry. It began as an R&D organization that developed products and partnered with some of today’s leading injectable manufacturers.

Over the past several years, Exela^®’s success in developing, filing and gaining approval for difficult to develop and manufacture products has led to first to market approvals. With success comes evolution. In 2015, we established a commercial organization and launched our first Exela^® labeled product, laying the cornerstone for future growth.

Today, in conjunction with our partners, Exela^® manufactures and/or markets 32 products in the US, Canada and Australia. Our development pipeline of generic and proprietary products includes numerous products on file with the US Food and Drug Administration, and many more additional products in development utilizing an ANDA or 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway designed to speed market entry and stay true to our mission statement. Exela^® is supported in its efforts by a work force comprising 11 Ph.D.s, six pharmacists, and several masters and bachelors degree holders.

Our cGMP manufacturing facilities are regularly inspected by the US FDA and HealthCanada.  We proudly develop and manufacture our sterile injectable products in the USA, employing over 335 people at our Lenoir, North Carolina facilities. Exela^® is proud to be part of the revitalization of Caldwell County North Carolina, a tier 1 economically disadvantaged location. When Exela^® established its manufacturing site in Lenoir in 2008, the unemployment rate in Caldwell County was 17.6%. That unemployment rate dropped to 5.6% in 2015, in a small but meaningful part due to Exela^®’s growth. We are proud to have created and continue to create high paying American manufacturing jobs. The ability to manufacture in the USA helps ensure manufacture of sterile products under strict quality standards, supply chain integrity and product availability. Reliability and response to market demands on short notice is a critical success factor of our organization.