Irish Prime Minister, Mr Bertie Ahern Launches BioUETIKON
14 May 2008
BioUETIKON, the new biotech services division of Chemie Uetikon (CU) and Chemie + Papier Holding (CPH), was officially launched on Monday 28th April in Dublin, Ireland by the Taoiseach, Mr Bertie Ahern TD.
BioUETIKON Ltd provides process development and GMP CMO services to the biopharmaceutical, medical device and related industries. Located in a flexible, high quality facility approximately 15 minutes from Dublin Airport on the Dublin City University (DCU) campus, BioUETIKON is ideally situated to serve international and local clients.
As a DCU spin-out, BioUETIKON had over 10 years' experience of biopharmaceutical production prior to CPH investment in late 2006. This investment allowed the expansion and development of their services and facilities throughout 2007, with the aim of achieving a leading position in development and execution of efficient bioprocessing services.
CPH see biotechnology CMO as an important strategic innovation for their fine chemicals business. Biotech products are a key and growing component of the pharmaceuticals marketplace and will provide a strong addition to CPH's existing fine chemicals CMO experience and expertise.
BioUETIKON is the first investment in Ireland for CPH. The country was chosen for the government's approach and commitment to the pharmaceuticals industry, its market accessibility to Europe and the USA, skilled workforce and business friendly environment.
The location also enables BioUETIKON to take advantage of a strong local network of institutes (DCU, NICB, NIBRT, CBAS) and companies (Fusion Antibodies, Life Scientific) for joint work on projects such as cell line development, sophisticated analytics for efficient process optimisation etc.
Its latest contract with Orthomimetics is to develop a process and produce a regenerative medical device 'scaffold' which will reduce the need for joint replacements. Over 2 million people worldwide have joint replacement procedures each year. While joint surgery can be painful and implants have a limited life-span, this new product being produced at the BioUETIKON facility will help surgeons to treat joint injuries more effectively without the need for open surgery. The new product or 'scaffold' has already undergone pre-clinical trials and will go to clinical trial later this year.
According to Managing Director of BioUETIKON, Mike Mulcahy: "Many new treatments for diseases such as cancer, immune diseases and AIDS are being discovered through life science research. These potential treatments need to be developed and manufactured with expertise in 'good manufacturing practice' which includes safety standards and effective production techniques. BioUETIKON has the facilities, as well as the qualified and experienced personnel to convert scientific 'discovery' into commercial supply of drugs, thus taking advantage of the growing multi-million dollars global market in the pharmaceutical industry."
