Irish drug firm to meet demand for vaccines

A CLARE pharmaceutical plant will take on a frontline role in meeting worldwide demand for bird flu vaccine.

Roche Ireland, which employs 265 full-time and 200 contract workers at Clarecastle is helping to produce the antiviral drug Tamiflu.

A spokesman for Roche Ireland said the company would produce 400 million dosages of Tamiflu over the next eight months to help cope with a bird flu pandemic if one happens.

“As part of the ramping up of our global production capacity, the Clarecastle plant will now produce one element of the Tamiflu oral antiviral treatment which will then be sent on to other facilities as part of the manufacturing process,” he said.

The Clarecastle plant’s main product, Cell Cept, is used by transplant patients to prevent organ rejection.

Roche Ireland human resources manager TJ Waters said the plant would start the Tamiflu manufacturing process in the next few weeks.

“In any start-up like this in a manufacturing process, it is a very complex matter as we have to ensure that everything is done properly; that equipment is in place and that those involved get the necessary training,” he said.

He said a very wide range of personnel were involved in the Tamiflu process.

“The engineers have to ensure the plant is properly configured to ensure the produce is manufactured in a proper fashion,” Mr Waters said.

Tamiflu is an oral antiviral treatment for influenza. One treatment consists a pack of 10 capsules. Treatment must commence within 10 hours of the onset of symptoms for full efficacy.

The product was launched in the US six years ago and was introduced to the European market three years ago.

The greatest use of Tamiflu is in Japan where it was used to treat more than six million of the 15 million recorded flu infections last year.

Mr Waters said that as bird flu is seen as a one-off, the ramp-up for the increased production of Tamiflu would be a short-term rather than long-term manufacturing demand on the Clarecastle operation.