Wyeth Opens World's Largest Integrated Biotech Production Facility

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Wyeth Opens World's Largest Integrated Biotech Production Facility

Ireland Plant centerpiece of Wyeth's growing investment in biotech processes

and products

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5/0004102503 & EDATE

Wyeth today formally opened its Grange Castle biotech production

facility in South County Dublin, Ireland. The new 1.2 million square foot

campus is one

of the largest integrated biotech manufacturing facilities in the world and

is

expected to produce some of the Company's most innovative products.

Speaking before a crowd of more than 1,200 people that included numerous

representatives of the Irish government and other dignitaries, Wyeth

Pharmaceuticals President Bernard Poussot said the Company is proud of the

biotech manufacturing facility it has built in Ireland and expects that it

will expand access to our key biotech products, which are in high demand

from patients throughout the world.

" The work performed in this facility will lead the way to better and

more innovative healthcare through the application of biotechnology

developed

right here, in Ireland, " said Mr. Poussot. " We expect to continue to invest

in

this new state-of-the-art facility and to make Grange Castle one of our key

biotech development, production and distribution efforts in the coming

years,

complementing our U.S. presence in Andover, Mass. "

Through sustained investment over the last decade, Wyeth has become one

of

the largest global biotech companies in the world and the fastest growing

pharmaceutical company in Europe. The Company has emphasized a sustainable

new paradigm, which combines the biotech culture with the resources and

global

reach of a large pharmaceutical company - a model for success in a

challenging and changing industry. Biotech drugs are a rapidly growing

segment of

Wyeth's more than $17.4 billion business and include such innovative

products as Enbrel® (etanercept), ReFacto® Antihemophilic Factor

(Recombinant),

BeneFix® Coagulation Factor IX (Recombinant) and Prevenar® 7-valent

pneumococcal vaccine for children.

Wyeth invested nearly $2 billion in the Grange Castle facility, where

site development work began in October 2002. Construction of the campus

required

seven million person-hours of engineering and construction and 15,000 tons

of

structural steel. The campus at Grange Castle, which employs more than 1,000

people, will comprise three separate facilities - a drug development unit, a

drug substance site, and a drug product facility. These facilities will go

into production on a phased basis over the next four years. With the

addition

of Grange Castle to Wyeth's existing manufacturing sites in Ireland, Wyeth

has now become the country's largest pharmaceutical employer.

Among the biotech products that will be produced at Grange Castle is

Enbrel, for which Wyeth owns the rights outside the U. S. Enbrel is

approved in many markets around the world and can be used to treat

rheumatoid

arthritis, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriasis

and psoriatic arthritis. Prevenar is also scheduled to be produced at Grange

Castle, as is the Company's newly FDA approved intravenous (IV) antibiotic

Tygacil (tygacycline IV), used for the treatment of serious skin and

intra-abdominal hospital acquired infections.

Wyeth is one of the world's largest research-driven pharmaceutical and

health care products companies. It is a leader in the discovery,

development,

manufacturing, and marketing of pharmaceuticals, vaccines, biotechnology

products and nonprescription medicines that improve the quality of life for

people worldwide. The Company's major divisions are Wyeth Pharmaceuticals,

Wyeth Consumer Healthcare, and Fort Dodge Animal Health.

SOURCE Wyeth

Web Site: http://www.wyeth.com