UCB opens new facility in Ireland

Published: 10-Oct-2007

Belgian biopharma company UCB has opened a new manufacturing facility in Shannon, Ireland.


Belgian biopharma company UCB has opened a new manufacturing facility in Shannon, Ireland.

The new plant will enable the production of Fesoterodine, a new drug to combat over-active bladder, which has been developed by Schwarz Pharma, now part of the UCB Group, and is licensed exclusively to Pfizer.

Construction of the facility, along with other site upgrade projects, will be completed by the end of 2007 and the plant is expected to be in operation in the first quarter of 2008.

"This new facility will enable the production of an important new drug here," said Dr Roch Doliveux, ceo and chairman of the executive committee of UCB. "With investments of Euro 815m worldwide in r&d in 2006 and the full integration of Schwarz Pharma, UCB is actively building the next generation biopharma leader."

UCB used the state visit to Ireland of the Belgian monarch, King Albert II, to highlight the need for a common platform between Belgian universities and innovative industries, to make Belgium a leader in education, research and development.

Doliveux called for the increasing of public research, university funding and improvement of education in Europe and in Belgium to build on Belgium's strong innovative capacities especially in sectors such as biopharma, ICT and nanotechnology.

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