Metrics Founder Phil Hodges Announces Retirement
November 13, 2013
The Daily Reflector
Metrics Inc. founder Phil Hodges announced Tuesday he is retiring from the contract pharmaceutical formulation and manufacturing company he founded 19 years ago.
After opening its doors in 1994 with just four employees — one of whom was Hodges — Metrics now employs more than 300 professionals. The company never has laid off an employee.
Metrics custom-built some 100,000 square feet of facility space, which includes a highly potent products containment suite that serves as a best-practices model for the entire industry. The company has experienced double-digit revenue growth most years and has been profitable every year since 1995.
But, according to Hodges, 57, the real icing on the cake came with last year’s acquisition by Mayne Pharma Group Ltd., a publicly traded pharmaceutical company based in Australia that expanded the Metrics footprint into a truly global one.
“I built this business and I am proud of it,” Hodges said, “And that’s what I loved about the Mayne deal; they really got it, they understood what we are doing here. But I’ll be honest, after 19 years, I’m ready to get out of day-to-day operations and go do something different.”
After starting Metrics as a small contract analytical laboratory company, Hodges oversaw its growth into a full-service pharmaceutical development and manufacturing organization serving clients worldwide. Metrics’ areas of expertise include quality pharmaceutical formulation development; first-time-in-man formulations; Phase I, II and III clinical trial materials manufacturing; and analytical method development and validation services leading to commercial-scale manufacturing.
Metrics grew its operations organically, Hodges said, adding new services as existing clients expressed interest and need.
“All I really did was pick the people I wanted to work with – smart people who are really good at what they do,” Hodges said.
Although Hodges will be stepping away from daily management at Metrics, he’ll keep a close watch on the company strategically. Besides being a large shareholder, he serves on the Mayne Pharma board.
The company’s work supports several types of drug submissions made to worldwide regulatory agencies on behalf of clients ranging from internationally renowned corporations to small virtual companies.
Throughout its growth, Metrics has remained committed to scientific and operational excellence, corporate officials said.
“Doing everything the right way – that’s just part of our culture,” Hodges said. “Our people do the best they can and our clients know that about us.”
