Building up in drugs
15 Jan 2000
Pfizer has awarded a contract for the building of a new pharmaceuticals manufacturing plant in Ireland, driven by the unprecedented demand for its anti-impotence drug Viagra
The Irish project, at Pfizer's existing site in Ringaskiddy, County Cork, will be undertaken by Foster Wheeler. The core of the facility is an organic synthesis plant featuring six 150,000 litre reactors, which will manufacture bulk active ingredients for Viagra, the antidepressant Zoloft, the heart drug Norvasc and the antibiotic Zithromax.
* In Kent, meanwhile, ABB has supplied 400 variable speed drives for Pfizer's new R&D facility on the coast at Sandwich. Rated between 2.2kW and 150kW, the drives will control pumps and fans for the labs' building services. ABB's local distributor, Arcontrol, used a computer model to ensure that the various drives and systems did not lead to harmonics-induced power supply problems.
