MedPointe Moves Into 70,392-SF HQ Space

Doug Petrozzini, senior vice president of Grubb & Ellis, Fairfield, NJ, represented MedPointe Inc. in the lease transaction. Drew Persson, first vice president, and president David Simson of GVA Williams of New Jersey, based in Parsippany, represented owner Koll Bren Schreiber Realty, the Newport Beach, CA-based national investment advisory firm. The asset is a 178,214-sf facility located near Exit 10 of I-287, about 35 miles southwest of New York City.

"Everyone involved in this transaction deserves a lot of credit for the significant amount of time and effort that they invested in it," according to Persson. "For most of last year, Franklin Twp. experienced a more than 30% vacancy factor, including sublease space, so it was important for everyone in this market that this deal come here."

Formed just last year, MedPointe Inc. is the surviving pharmaceutical and diagnostics portion of the former Carter-Wallace Inc. After Church & Dwight (Arm & Hammer Baking Soda and other household products) bought Carter-Wallace's household products division, a syndicate of private equity firms led by the Carlyle Group and the Cypress Group acquired the company's pharmaceutical and diagnostics divisions for $408 million. The combined divisions were subsequently renamed MedPointe Inc.

MedPointe now consists of the old Wallace Pharmaceuticals division and Wampole Diagnostics, which produces a variety of tests and diagnostic tools. MedPointe's pharmaceutical brands include Astelin, which is used in the treatment of allergies; Rynatan/Tussi (coughs and colds); Soma, a muscle relaxant; and Felbatol, an anti-convulscent, among others.

MedPointe moved to its new Somerset County location from the former Carter-Wallace headquarters campus in Cranbury, NJ, which new owner Church & Dwight recently put on the market.