Cancer drug production to create 150 jobs

Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is expected to unveil plans today to begin production of a new anti-cancer drug at its Cork plant which will create 150 jobs.

GSK obtained approval from the US regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), for the breast cancer treatment drug Tykerb this month, and the company is planning to commence production of the drug at the Currabinny site near Carrigaline, where it was researched and developed.

GSK already employs 1,400 people in Ireland, including between 600 and 700 people at the Co Cork site. Production of the new drug will involve a multimillion euro investment which will create some 150 jobs.

Details of the investment, which is supported by IDA Ireland, will be made at a press conference today at GSK's plant by Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Micheál Martin and Europe president of GSK Pharmaceuticals Andrew Witty.

The FDA granted approval for the once-daily pill in combination with Xeloda for the treatment of advanced breast cancer in women who carry the HER-2 gene and who do not respond to an existing treatment, Herceptin, which is produced by Genentech.

Clinical trials among 392 women worldwide, including 13 Irish patients attending hospitals in Dublin, Cork and Galway, found that the drug, which will be sold under the brand name Tykerb, slowed the progression of advanced breast cancer by over 50 per cent.

The drug has been hailed as a significant breakthrough in the treatment of advanced breast cancer in that it has worked in cases where patients have not responded to Herceptin and, unlike Herceptin, which is taken intravenously, it can be taken in tablet form.

GSK expects Tykerb will win it a bigger share of the €26.5 billion global cancer-drug market and it hopes it will help counter slowing growth in the sales of its top-selling asthma drug Advair and the loss of patent protection on other products.

GSK's plant in Currabinny was established in 1974 and is currently the sole production site for a number of the company's top-selling drugs.

The investment will be good news for both Cork and the wider economy following some setbacks and job losses in the pharmaceuticals sector.