Newcomer drug manufacturer KVK Tech Inc. and its occupancy of the dormant Lockheed site were considered a Newtown boon in 2015, but it didn’t take long for that upbeat feeling to sink, writes Bob Fernandez for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

KVK’s takeover of the defense contractor’s abandoned Terry Drive property turned sour as the company’s business practices raised eyebrows on both federal and municipal levels.

The firm grew rapidly as one of the nation’s largest makers of generic opioids. From 2006–2012, it produced 580 million of the pills, according to a Washington Post citation of government records.

But oversight from The Food and Drug Administration cast a shadow. The charges — denied by its principals — cite improper ingredient usage (since dismissed), criminal conspiracy, and mail fraud. Then, municipal complaints began to arise, ranging from parking to worker safety and wastewater treatment.

Murty Vepuri, de facto KVK lead, has a long history of FDA attention. The feds found his former drug manufacturing plant in N.J. to have “violations in virtually all the firm’s product lines.”

Exiting from that tangle, Verpuri sold his interest in the entity and eschewed the drug manufacturing industry.

A decade later, he was back, this time in Bucks County, with ownership of KVK in his children’s names.

All the intrigue caused one Newtown supervisor to ruefully admit that he wished KVK’s leaders “were better corporate citizens.”

Read more about KVK Tech Inc. in the Philadelphia Inquirer.