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P 22 March 2014 Tablets & Capsules contract manufacturing Metrics' Hodges looks back—and ahead Nineteen years after launching Metrics, Phil Hodges has retired. Here he reflects on his start in the contract manufacturing busi- ness and how it has evolved. Working in that small environment, Hodges recog- nized a need within the pharmaceutical industry for con- tracted laboratory services that delivered solid, reliable science. That first small company floundered, Hodges said, but his nights-and-weekends gig lasted long enough to inspire an idea. "I figured we could do this—set up a little contract analytical company and do this," Hodges said. "And the initial concept for Metrics came together." Hodges continued to enjoy his day-job as a chemist at Burroughs Wellcome. "Wild horses couldn't have dragged me away." Then fate intervened. "I got a new manager who did not like me. When you're driving to work and just dread it, there is no worse feeling in the world." Hodges decided to quit his job at Burroughs Wellcome and focus full-time on building a contract pharmaceutical analytical laboratory. His wife, Lisa—a physical therapist on maternity leave with the family's third child—offered her complete support, Hodges said. "We knew that if I fell flat on my face, she could go back to work and support us. But it was fate. It was just what was supposed to be. I truly believe God put that manager in front of me to run me off from Burroughs Wellcome." When Metrics officially opened its doors in 1994, the company had just four employees, including Hodges. The company offered method development and valida- tion and later—when the pharmaceutical industry began to embrace current Good Manufacturing Practices—it developed quality-assurance protocols. "I began putting together training programs for other pharmaceutical companies' chemists and, wow, did that take off," he said. "We started turning out standard operating procedures." In 1995, Glaxo (now GSK) acquired Burroughs Wellcome and shut down the latter's Greenville-based pharmaceutical operations. That meant several of Hodges' former Burroughs Wellcome colleagues were asked to relocate to sites in other cities and states. An opportunity "dropped in our lap," Hodges said. "With Glaxo abandoning Greenville and wanting to sell the site, it gave me a tremendous opportunity to grow the business from both sides in terms of clients and employ- ees." With an influx of formulation development chemists from the defunct Burroughs Wellcome operation, Metrics expanded its services into formulation development, helping other companies figure out how to get optimal performance with their active pharmaceutical ingredients. Early work involved supporting virtual pharmaceutical companies that relied solely on contractors to get their hil Hodges began his career as a scientist at Burroughs Wellcome, developing analytical methods and validating them. He enjoyed his work and the Burroughs Wellcome culture. But then he got a phone call. "A guy who ran a small pharma company called me and said, 'I need methods developed and validated.' I told him I had a job," Hodges said. "His reply? 'You can do it on nights and weekends' and he talked me into it. He was the quintessential entrepreneur. So he convinced me and paid me hardly anything and I went to work nights and weekends." e-Hodgesart_22-23_Jasper Art5.0 #11 3/5/14 10:07 AM Page 22