Altana officially opens Irish facility

Altana Pharma, a division of the German Altana AG group, on July 7 performed the official opening of a new tablet production facility in Cork, Ireland, in the presence of the Irish Prime Minister, Bertie Ahern. The new plant will play an important role in Altana Pharma's global production network and provide extended capacity for the manufacturing of existing and future products, the firm said.

"The facility in Cork means that in addition to Oranienburg (Germany) Altana Pharma will have a second state-of-the-art, high-quality manufacturing site for solid formulations meeting the strictest international standards. This will provide greater flexibility and security in terms of supplying the market with our strategically important products," commented the firm's chief executive, Hans-Joachim Lohrisch.

The tablet manufacturing facility on the11-hectare plot in the Carrigtohill Industrial Park in Cork required an investment of 67.0 million euros ($85.8 million). As of July 7, the company employs 56 people. At full operational level some 150 employees will be able to produce three billion tablets a year.