Boost for Ireland’s pharma sector as new facility announced
pharmafile | July 26, 2011 | News story | Manufacturing and Production |Â Â Sangart, pharma manfacturing news, pharma manufacturing newsÂ
Around 120 jobs will be created in Cork, Ireland, thanks to a decision by pharmaceutical company Sangart to build a new manufacturing facility in the area.
A further 125 jobs will be created during the construction phase of the new plant, which will also house Sangart’s European headquarters and sales office. It is due to be completed in 2014.
US-based Sangart is developing drugs which increase oxygen supply to tissues and recently raised $50 million in private equity funding. That influx of capital has prompted its decision to build a new facility in Carrigtwohill to support its lead compound as it advances towards the latter stages of clinical development.
The company has two drug candidates in the pipeline. Its lead product is MP4OX which opens capillaries and prevents the early release of oxygen in the blood system, and is currently in phase II clinical trials for haemorrhagic shock in severe trauma patients.
Following behind is MP4CO, a molecule that carries low, nontoxic doses of carbon monoxide into the blood stream to prevent the sickling of red blood cells and is in early-stage testing in patients with sickle cell anaemia.
“Our manufacturing investment in Ireland is an important element of preparing for the potential future marketing of our therapies,” said Brian O’Callaghan, Sangart’s chief executive.
“Expanding our global presence is a critical part of our commitment to getting Sangart’s therapies in the hands of physicians to benefit patients as quickly as possible,” he added.
Ireland’s pharmaceutical sector seems to be experiencing something of a recovery after a tricky period in recent years. Negative news, such as GlaxoSmithKline cutting 130 jobs at a plant in Waterford, has been more than offset by positive developments, such as Merck & Co’s investment in its Brinny biopharmaceuticals plant near Innishannon.
Last month, US biopharmaceutical company BioMarin rode to the rescue of a Pfizer biologics plant in Shanbally which had been threatened with closure, creating up to 100 new jobs over the next five years. And In March Pfizer signed a deal with Amgen to take over a biologics fill-and-finish plant in Dun Laoghaire, saving around 240 jobs.
Phil Taylor
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