Alexion announces third Irish facility

Soliris manufacturer Alexion has announced its €75m ($103m) third Irish plant will create 200 new jobs.

The planned 15,000m2 laboratory, office, packaging and warehouse facility in Blanchardstown, Dublin will become the third Irish facility for the Connecticut, US-headquartered biopharma company after it announced it was buying the ex-Elan Drug Technologies vialling plant in Athlone, County Roscommon in February.

The firm manufactures the humanized monoclonal antibody drug Soliris (Eculizumab) which has orphan drug status for the treatment of atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS), and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH).

Worldwide net sales of the drug clocked $1.13bn for 2012, according to the firm’s annual report, but Soliris’ $567,000 annual price tag per patient has received scrutiny of late from the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Committee who asked the firm last month to justify the cost.

To place into context, Soliris costs over 30 times that of other monoclonal antibodies.

Ireland

The creation of 200 jobs - praised by Ireland’s Head of government, Enda Kenny – will be on top of the 60 staff currently employed at the firm’s Park West manufacturing facilities, also in Dublin.

“Our choice of Ireland reflects the calibre of the workforce and the country's culture of innovation, and we look forward to an ongoing partnership with the Irish Government, IDA Ireland and local communities in the years to come,” said CEO Leonard Bell following the announcement.

Alexion’s interest in Ireland adds weight that the country is becoming a hub for biomanufacturing companies, following some major pull-outs in small molecule production.

Bristol-Myers Squibbs earmarked a Dublin API plant to close last month, adding to recent closures and divestitures from Merck & Co. and Pfizer. However, on the biopharma side Regeneron has bought an ex-Dell computer plant and is converting it into a bioprocessing facility, whilst Pfizer, Eli Lilly and Amgen have all invested in biopharma capacity in the last few years.

Alexion’s “choice of Ireland as a location for their business is an endorsement of the strong infrastructure we have available for pharma companies,” said Barry O'Leary, CEO of IDA Ireland. “The strong flow of investment into Ireland from biopharmaceutical companies is due to our flexible workforce and dedicated training programs.”