Qualicaps will close its Guilford County facility late next year, resulting in the loss of 91 jobs, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filed with the state. French-based Roquette America acquired the facility on Warner Parkway in Whitsett in 2023 when it acquired Qualicaps from the Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Chemical Group.
Both Qualicaps and Mitsubishi Chemical manufactured hard capsules for oral medications at the facility. Qualicaps had operated a facility in Whitsett for more than 30 years before it was acquired by Roquette.
Qualicaps says 47 workers will lose their jobs Sept. 30, another 21 on Oct. 31 and 20 more on Dec. 31, 2026, with the remaining 3 on March 3, 2027. Employees were told the facility was closing on Dec. 2.
“The reason for the closure is that despite substantial investment and our teams’ commitment, the hard-gelatin capsule facility has faced ongoing structural financial challenges since its acquisition two years ago — including pricing pressures and increasing costs, making long-term operations unsustainable,” according to a statement filed with the N.C. Department of Commerce.
Qualicaps workers in Whitsett are not a part of a union. Bumping rights do not exist.
Workers in Whitsett will be offered an opportunity to transfer to other Roquette sites in Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania or West Virginia, according to the company.
Roquette has more than 11,000 workers and 40 industrial sites around the world. Qualicaps had about 1,400 employees when it was acquired.
U.S. drugmaker Eli Lilly helped start the company in 1965 in partnership with Japan-based Shinogi & Co., which bought out Eli Lilly’s half of the company in 1992. Private equity firm The Carlyle Group sold the company to Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings in 2013.