Altana opens manufacturing plant in Ireland
company Altana has opened a new tablet production facility in Cork
as it tries to cope with demand for Pantoprazole, its blockbuster
stomach ulcer drug.
The new Irish facility means that in addition to Oranienburg in Germany, Altana will have a second manufacturing site for solid formulations, an important boost in capacity as sales of Pantoprasole reached €2.7bn last year, making it the most successful medicine from a German research laboratory.
The tablet manufacturing facility on the eleven-hectare plot in the Carrigtohill Industrial Park in Cork cost €67 million and come autumn will employ 56 people.
At full operational level some 150 employees will be able to produce 3bn tablets a year there.
"The technology applied reflects Altana's commitment to innovation," said Declan Farrell, managing director of the company's facility in Cork.
"This means highly automated production equipment, producing products in a clean and environmentally sound manner, sophisticated IT systems as well as a modular design concept and an excellent work environment for the employees."
A company spokesman told In-PharmaTechnologist.com that some the site's extra capacity would be used in contract manufacturing.
But Altana has not come up with proprietary products to match the success of Pantoprazole.
Pantoprazole originates from Altana's own research and has been sold on the German market since 1994 and in the rest of Europe under the trade name Pantozol. In the US the product has been sold under the trade name Protonix by Wyeth since 2000.
Yet with patent expirations on this drug expected in 2009 in Europe and 2010 in the US, it is doubtful whether the business can remain profitable for long without any new products at the end of Altana's pipeline.
The company's development of its chronic obstructive pulmonary drug Daxas failed after disappointing trial results and resulted in Pfizer terminating plans for co-marketing of the drug.
Altana invested millions into developing Daxas and its asthma drug Alvesco but a regulatory setback has denied the latter revenue from the all-important US market.
Thus, the company has been looking for a buyer for its Pharma business since October, and also wants to spin off its Chemicals operations this year.
There has been speculation in the media recently that investor firm Goldman Sachs may now try to organise a marriage between Altana and Merck KGaA, which lost out to its larger rival Bayer in a battle for Schering this summer.
Altana, which is worth more than €5bn, has 8,800 staff and is based in Konstanz.
Last year the company expanded its pharmaceutical production site in Oranienburg to step up the manufacturing of Pantoprazole.
