Nycomed builds facility to service Russia/CIS market

Nycomed has unveiled plans to invest 65-75 million in a building of a state-of-the-art production plant in Russia.

The new facility will produce medicines for the Russian and Commonwealth of Independent States market which together account for 10% of the privately-owned Switzerland-based drugmaker’s turnover. Construction will start on the plant, which is ocated in the Yaroslavl region, some 280 kilometres from Moscow, in 2010 and production will begin in 2014 with a staff of around 150 employees.

Nycomed said the plant will manufacture “products that are important for the local market”, like Cardiomagnyl (acetylsalicylic acid/magnesium hydroxide), the bovine blood derivative Actovegin and the anticoagulant warfarin. The company’s chief executive Hakan Bjorklund said that Russia-CIS “is an important cornerstone in our growth strategy” and the investment “underlines our belief in the long-term prospects of the pharmaceutical market” in the region. He added that “we welcome the efforts of the Russian authorities to develop this market”.

Jostein Davidsen, president of Nycomed Russia-CIS, said the firm “inspected many possible locations in many different regions”, and plumped for Yaroslavl, due in part to “the long-term availability of a qualified workforce”, where the medical academy there “plays an important role”. He added that the infrastructure and land plot “also very well meets our requirements. We are confident that we made the right choice”.