Bayer awards 15-year Xofigo contract to Cardinal Health

Bayer HealthCare has awarded a 15-year contract to Cardinal Health to manufacture Xofigo (radium Ra 223 dichloride) for the treatment of prostate cancer.

As part of the agreement, Cardinal Health will build a 64,000ft² (690,000m²) facility in Indianapolis, US, dedicated exclusively to the manufacture of the product, which will primarily be distributed in the US and Canada.

The manufacturing facility will be built near Cardinal Health's existing Indianapolis radiopharmacy, which is one of the two US locations authorised by Bayer HealthCare to distribute Xofigo. Cardinal Health is the sole distributor of Xofigo in the US.

Xofigo is an alpha-particle-emitting radioactive therapeutic agent for the treatment of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), symptomatic bone metastases and no known visceral metastatic disease. Bayer HealthCare is developing and marketing Xofigo worldwide. The current manufacturing site in Norway will continue to be responsible for global supply of the product.

Bayer had started the preparations for a second manufacturing site soon after the first marketing authorisation for Xofigo was obtained in May 2013. The new Cardinal Health manufacturing facility, expected to be completed in 2017, will be built and equipped for the unique manufacturing needs of Xofigo and employ around 85 people.

'Cardinal Health has played a pivotal role in distributing Xofigo to medical facilities since the product's launch in the US in May 2013,' said Shannon Campbell, Vice President and General Manager of oncology at Bayer HealthCare.

'Cardinal Health's proven track record in radiopharmaceuticals and their experience with Xofigo make them a formidable choice for helping to expand our manufacturing capabilities in North America.'