Editor’s note: This article is part of an ongoing series on the Business Incubator Center.

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GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — Some people are sensitive to dyes and fillers in drugs. Pharmacist Karen Floyd can make medicines without those ingredients.

She can also adjust a medicine to make a kid-size dosage not otherwise available. The same goes for animals.

Floyd concocts medicines the “old-fashioned” way at Western Colorado Specialty Pharmacy, a compounding pharmacy at 2472 F Road, in the Monument Plaza, where medicines are tailor-made for the patient.

Floyd had been a pharmacist for 22 years when she decided she wanted to personalize her approach to medicine.

She can customize medicines prescribed by a physician, or prepare over-the-counter types of products like cosmetics, antihistamines and vitamins.

Sometimes pets and children are hard to give medicines to, Floyd said. “I can put something in to make it taste better, make it easier.”

Historically, all pharmacies were compounding, where mortars and pestles were used to grind and mix chemical, Floyd said.

“This is the old-fashioned pharmacy,” that kind of went by the wayside with the advent of mass drug manufacturing, Floyd said.

Floyd uses a mortar and pestle, as well as modern equipment and technology to make her medicines.

“It’s still based on the same principal — mixing one prescription for one patient,” Floyd said.

Floyd said business has been good since she opened her Specialty Pharmacy April 6.

Most of her business so far comes from making bio-identical hormones — an alternative to standard hormone replacement therapy. Many of her patients are referred by Dr. Scott Rollins, of the Integrative Medicine Center, she said.

Bio-identical hormones are chemically matched to a woman’s own natural hormones, Floyd said.

Floyd learned basic compounding in pharmacy school and then furthered her training in Houston at the Professional Compounding Centers of America, — “a comprehensive source for training, chemicals, supplies and formulas,” Floyd said.

Floyd’s daughter Shannon Floyd, is a technician at the pharmacy. She also attended the compounding training in Houston.

Before Floyd opened her shop, she attended the Leading Edge business class at the Business Incubator Center, 2591 B 3/4 Road. The Incubator is a nonprofit organization that provides low-cost business classes, affordable rental space, and free consulting for new and expanding Mesa County businesses.

“It was very helpful and informative on all kinds of topics,” Floyd said. She wrote her business plan during the class. She also came up with her business’ slogan, “Yesterday’s pharmacy, Today’s Advances,” during a brainstorming session in class.

The class covered “all the stuff I didn’t know from a business standpoint, — employees, taxes, marketing, demographics, whether it would be a viable business, the legal aspects,” Floyd said.

Floyd also acquired a loan from the Incubator’s Revolving Loan Fund to purchase equipment and for working capital.

“I’ve met one-on-one for advice on marketing, cash flow, financing. They’re just a great resource,” Floyd said.

Western Colorado Specialty Pharmacy is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Like other pharmacies, compounding pharmacies are regulated by the state board of pharmacy.

Floyd works with physicians and patients as a team in coming up with suitable medications, she said.

Reach Sharon Sullivan at ssullivan@gjfreepress.com.