RICHMOND, Va. -- A local pharma company and player in a regional effort to build a pharmaceutical hub in Central Virginia has started manufacturing operations.

Richmond-based Phlow Corp. recently began manufacturing ingredients used in medicines at a facility at 2818 N. Normandy Drive in Petersburg, according to Robby Demeria, the company’s chief corporate affairs officer.

The 19,200-square-foot facility is able to produce 250 to 500 kilograms of material annually. It began operations late last year and is the first of two manufacturing plants that Phlow has planned at the Petersburg site.

It also marks the initiation of in-house manufacturing capabilities for Phlow, which was founded four years ago.