Nycomed earmarks $96m for Russian manufacturing
pharmafile | September 24, 2009 | News story | Manufacturing and Production | Daxas, Nycomed, Russia
Swiss drugmaker Nycomed has provided more details of its plan to build a large-scale production facility in Russia.
In July, Nycomed told Pharmafocus it was planning to build a plant to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and finished dosage forms for the Russian pharmaceutical market as well as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and said it would be will be among the first overseas manufacturers to produce APIs in Russia.
The drugmaker said this week that it will invest 65 to 75 million euros ($96-$110 million) in the facility, which will be located near the city of Yaroslavl about 280 kilometres from Moscow, and will start construction in 2010.
When it opens in 2014, the plant will manufacture liquid sterile products such as ampoules and vials, as well as tablets. Nycomed said it would make products that are ‘important to the local market’, such as Cardiomagnyl (acetylsalicylic acid and magnesium hydroxide) for pain relief, Actovegin (a deproteinised derivative of calf blood) and the anticoagulant warfarin.
Nycomed’s chief executive Hakan Bjorklund said the investment “underlines our belief in the long-term prospects of the pharmaceutical market in Russia-CIS”, which was valued at more than $10 billion last year, according to figures from Espicom.
Russia-CIS currently accounts for around 10% of Nycomed’s sales, and last month the company bolstered its product range in Central and Eastern Europe with the purchase of 20 branded generic products from Sanofi-Aventis’ Czech unit Zentiva.
The liquid production area will handle preparation, washing of ampoules, sterilisation, filling and inspection, while solid dose production will encompass all stages, from mixing and granulation through compression and coating. The unit will also have an integrated packaging line for both solid and liquid medicines.
The announcement comes at a busy time for Nycomed, which is rumoured to have tabled a 4-4.5 billion-euro offer for the pharmaceutical division of French chemical firm Solvay and has just reported encouraging phase III clinical results for Daxas (roflumilast), a drug which could become the first oral treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and have blockbuster sales potential.
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