Compounded Solutions Triples its Presence in Monroe

Pharmacists wearing white lab coats led town officials on a tour of the new building for Compounded Solutions in Pharmacy, LLC, at 810 Main Street last Wednesday. The 3,000-square-foot facility is three-times the size of its former space at 179 Main Street, where it was housed for 14 years.

Michael Roberge, R.PH, of Fairfield, and his staff moved into their new headquarters three weeks ago, and the Monroe Chamber of Commerce and Monroe Economic Development Commission organized a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its Grand Re-Opening last week.

"We love it," Roberge said of the new building. "It's so much more space. It gives us room to work uninterrupted and do the things you have to do. The staff's very happy. It's just great."

Compounded solutions has six pharmacists (counting Roberge) and 10 ancillary staff members.

On Wednesday, First Selectman Steve Vavrek, EDC Chairman Roberto Perez, Monroe Chamber President Raymond Giovanni and Lee Hossler, the former EDC chairman, were among the well-wishers.

What is Compounding?

Drug companies that mass produce a drug only do so in a certain number of strengths and doses, but one size doesn't fit all, according to Roberge. The purpose of a compounding pharmacy is to provide different strength doses of a drug for clients and to produce unique combinations of drugs.

"It costs a lot of money to manufacture products. They have to make a lot of them to support a manufacturing line," he explained. "If there were 100 different strengths, there would have to be 100 different production lines. That's not cost effective for them."

A compounding pharmacy can also prepare drugs that are easier for patients to take. For instance, pharmacists can make drugs in a the form of lollipops and gummies.

Roberge recalled a client whose mother could not take her pills, so she crushed it up and put it in applesauce. But then her mother would get full before taking the full dosage. Roberge was able to make the drug into a liquid form she could take.

Touring the Facility

Janis Covey, R.PH, showed a group of people the sterile room, where she said special HEPA filters change the air 100 times an hour.

The tour group walked past a break room — which the older building did not have — and out to the main compounding lab, a large open work space with a long table. Three scales and powder mixing areas were among the computers and specialized equipment.

"We mix all of our powders here," said Covey.

Next was the Bulk Chemical Room and the shipping area.

"We didn't have it in the other building," Covey said of the shipping area. "We ship all over the country."

She showed an envelop that can be used with ice packs. "We can ship anything anywhere," Covey said.

The building's main entrance in the back, not facing Main Street, leads to the consultation room and Roberge showed one visitor a separate entrance off of the sidewalk used only for UPS deliveries.

The parking lot has 30 spaces.

Roberge said he had a positive experience working with the town's land use departments and the Planning & Zoning Commission as plans for his building went through the approval process.

"It was great. They were very supportive," he said. "Both the Planning & Zoning and the Building Department have been supportive and helpful throughout the process."