Nycomed to build API plant in Russia

Swiss drug maker Nycomed is planning an $84-million manufacturing plant in Russia, making it one of the first foreign manufacturers of active pharmaceutical ingredients.

The drugmaker will choose a greenfield site this quarter after two years of study, says Russia Profile.  It will be one of few foreign pharmaceutical companies in Russia, joining French concern Servier, which opened a $56-million plant in Moscow in 2007.

Russia Profile notes that most of Russia's 600 pharma plants are Soviet vintage. "It is a widely held belief that if the government enforces GMP upgrades, then the share of local manufacturers in the pharmaceutical industry will significantly drop--a result diametrically opposed to the government's declared strategy of increasing the share of local manufacturers from some 20 percent in 2008 to 50 percent by 2020," according to the publication.

- here's the Russia Profile article

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