Emergent BioSolutions wins approval for prescription-free Narcan
With the Food and Drug Administration’s approval in March, Gaithersburg-based Emergent BioSolutions can sell Narcan, its naloxone nasal spray, without a prescription, making it easier to obtain the emergency treatment for opioid overdoses. Narcan is the first naloxone nasal spray available over the counter, although other pharmaceutical companies sell generic versions via prescription.
In fiscal 2022, the availability of generic products contributed to a 14% drop in revenue for the company’s naloxone nasal products, to about $374 million.
Fiscal 2023 revenue for Narcan is forecast to be from $290 million to $310 million, according to the company.
The FitzWay
Rockville’s Jack Fitzgerald, who turns 88 in September, wanted to ensure that his auto sales empire would remain intact and continue operating “the FitzWay”—a customer service philosophy he says is grounded in honesty and respect—after he was gone.
Selling Fitzgerald Auto Malls to a competitor that might abandon the philosophy or lay off some of his 1,800 employees wasn’t acceptable, he says; nor was the possibility that the business would be broken up in order to pay estate taxes.
So Fitzgerald turned the company over to his employees by creating an employee stock ownership plan. Now all employees
—from car washers to managers
—receive an amount of stock tax-free annually based on what they earn. When they retire, the stock is sold back to the company.
Justin Harbold, director of sales at Fitzgerald Hyundai in Rockville, says the plan will “really help people put money aside” for retirement. “It’s a great gift Mr. Fitzgerald did for us,” says Harbold, who joined the company four years ago.
Championing the Pike District
Launched earlier this year, the Pike District Partnership is laser focused on making North Bethesda’s Pike District the “place that people want it to be,” says Matt Herrmann, chair of the nonprofit organization’s interim board of directors. That includes advocating for the county’s plan for the area between Bethesda and Rockville and the infrastructure to support development—as well as keeping businesses and residents informed, and hosting community events.
Herrmann was the chair of the county’s White Flint Downtown Advisory Committee, which combined with the advocacy nonprofit The Friends of White Flint to create the partnership, seeded with $300,000 in county money. After years of effort, Herr-
mann says it’s rewarding to see the Pike District blossom. “I feel like a lot of things are starting to come together,” he says.
What We’re Earning
The average annual wage for all workers in Montgomery County was nearly $85,000 in fiscal year 2021, a 6.6% increase over 2020, county data shows.
The private sector saw the biggest increase, at 8.3%.
- Federal government: $125,800 (+2%)
- State government: $50,469 (+6.6%)
- Local government: $74,867 (-0.9%)
- Private, all industries: $80,586 (+8.3%)
- Professional, technical, and scientific services: $119,925 (+4.7%)
- Healthcare and social assistance: $62,408 (+5.3%)
- Retail: $40,758 (+7.4%)
- Accommodation and food services: $28,170 (+5.7%)
- Construction: $76,849 (+2.4%)
This story appears in the May/June issue of Bethesda Magazine.