PBM Products

PBM Products, LLC is an American manufacture of private label store brand infant formula founded by Paul B. Manning.
PBM Products
Manning was the sole employee of PBM Products when he created the company in 1997. Now PBM employs over 400 people.
When the New York Times asked him why he started distributing generic infant formula, he said,
"Anything that has large barriers to entry or difficult markets -- if you're willing to put the effort in -- offers up the biggest opportunities.”
Before PBM, there was no store brand infant formula on the market. PBM’s infant formula would be sold cheaper than name brands, which Manning claims had unnecessary price inflation. He told the Times that brand-name formula is overpriced because of administrative costs rather than research and development costs, which his larger competitors would have you believe.
Manning told CBS19 news on March 25, 2009,
“retailers have embraced store brands because it helps to win the loyalty of customers. Also, generic infant formula is subjected to the same scrutiny as national brands are by the Food and Drug Administration.”
Ten years after this New York Times article was printed, PBM is distributing infant formula to over 40,000 retail locations in the United States and throughout the world including Canada, Mexico, Europe, China, and South Africa. Headquartered in Gordonsville, Virginia, PBM has grown to be a $200 million enterprise. The company now includes PBM Products, PBM Nutritionals, PBM Pharmaceuticals, and PBM’s international holdings, including PBM Products Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V. It now also produces nutritional products, infant feeding products, pediatric nutritional drinks, baby foods, cereals, toddler foods, diabetic products, and pharmaceutical products.
Philanthropy
Manning has donated to various charities and relief efforts over the past several years. On May 28, 2008, PBM partnered with the Red Cross to Donate Infant Formula to China Earthquake Victims.
Katrina Bright Beginnings’ disaster relief contributions have totaled more than $500,000. The Bright Beginnings donation was distributed by America’s Second Harvest Network to its Member food banks and food rescue organizations in the Gulf Coast region.
In response to the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake, Manning donated $250,000 worth of Bright Beginnings infant formula and pediatric nutritional drinks to help feed young victims of the tsunami. These products were contributed to a South Asian relief and development program directed by Operation USA.
Manning also serves as director of the National Neurovision Research Institute (NNRI). Their stated mission is to improve the lives of people with dry macular degeneration (Stargardt disease) and other related retinal degenerative diseases that cause substantial vision loss. Two of Manning’s children were diagnosed with Stargardt disease. He and his wife have spent more than $1 million funding research projects.
Contributions to diabetes research
Manning sits on the Board of Trustees of the University of Virginia Health Foundation.
He and his wife, Diane, have donated $2.5 million to establish a program at UVA that involves transplanting insulin-producing cells in the bodies of patients with juvenile diabetes. Of the three patients who have received a transplant so far, all have either stopped or lowered their daily insulin injections.
Awards
Entrepreneur Magazine recognized PBM Products as one of their Hot 500 fastest-growing Businesses in America for 2008. Manning told Entrepreneur that PBM’s goal was “Providing high-quality, low-cost alternatives to expensive national brands and adding innovations faster than major brands can”
In 2002, Mr. Manning was named Virginia Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young
Legal battles
In 2001, PBM went up against Mead Johnson, maker of Enfamil, at Federal District Court in Indiana. PBM asks a federal judge to force the maker of Enfamil to stop distributing what it called misleading marketing materials to pediatricians' offices. PBM accused Enfamil of inaccurately claiming that their product was healthier and safer than generic formula. Mead Johnson, makers of Enfamil, also sued PBM Products in Federal District Court in Indiana. Mead accused PBM of making false and misleading statements about the quality of Enfamil. In its complaint, Mead Johnson asked a judge to rule that its own marketing materials, which are distributed to pediatricians, are truthful and accurate. Mead claimed that their formula contained more folic acid and calcium than generic formulas. Under the Infant Formula Act of 1980, the Food and Drug Administration regulates the ingredients of infant formula. The judge ruled in favor of PBM Products. The court ordered Enfamil to stop distributing the literature and to pay PBM Products for damages.
Paul B. Manning
Paul B. Manning (born 1956) is the founder, and chief executive officer of PBM Products and is also the founder, and chief executive officer of Beta-Pro LLC. Beta-Pro is a cellular therapy company for diabetes research. They supply human islet cells to research organizations. Manning began his entrepreneurial work after graduating from the University of Massachusetts, where he earned a BS in microbiology.
Other than his entrepreneurial work, Manning launched the Islet Replacement Research Foundation. The IRRF is a voluntary nonprofit grant maker and supporter of diabetes research. The goal of the foundation is to support research projects to find a cure for diabetes and end insulin dependence. PBM has donated several million dollars to date. His aim is to give everyone with diabetes, including his two Type 1 diabetic children, the opportunity to live a life free from the constraints of insulin management. In 2007, Manning changed the name of his nonprofit organization to Focus to Cure Diabetes Foundation.

Renovations in Gordonsville, Virginia
Manning is also responsible for reviving the ailing downtown of Gordonsville Virginia. The Washington Post mentioned in an article that Paul Manning has “profoundly” renovated Gordonsville having refurbished and attracted new businesses. Main Street has seen its property values triple since PBM Products arrived. It is graced by a circa 1842 antebellum mansion, the Linney House on Main Street, which is now the corporate headquarters of PBM Products. As the company grew, Manning purchased several more buildings converting each one into offices for PBM employees while maintaining the "historic integrity" of the properties. Manning recently purchased an assisted-living facility on Main Street, Gordon House. He renovated and expanded the facility, adding 15 rooms and building 12 cottages and 23 apartments for independent living. The Mayor of Gordonsville in 2005, Bob Coiner explained, "His work has contributed to our overall tax base, because it's made the town more viable. They just really saved the town."<ref name="gatewayva.com"/>

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