Protherics says higher profits will follow capacity boost
south Wales, to reduce the manufacturing cost of its products and
boost its profits
Protherics has said that it plans to expand its plant in Llandysul, south Wales, to reduce the manufacturing cost of its products and boost its profits. The company has an ongoing program of investment in its facilities in Wales and Australia aimed at improving efficiencies and increasing throughput.
The company has also reported a rise in full-year turnover from £7.92 million (€11.2m) to £11.3 million on the back of sales of its rattlesnake antivenom CroFab and DigiFab, to treat side effects caused by the cardiac drug digoxin. A full-year pre-tax loss of £600,000 was recorded for the year, although the company said but was profitable in the second half and expects to remain so going forward.
A report in the Financial Times notes that the company has applied for a Regional Selective Assistance grant from the Welsh Assembly to increase capacity at Llandysul and improve its ability to comply with future regulatory requirements for manufacturing processes. Protherics said that the grant would help offset some of the capital expenditure it has planned to achieve these improvements.
The upgrading of the firm's production suites is already providing a benefit for the firm's customers, as it has cut the cost of producing a vial of CroFab from £510 in 2000-2001 to £230 last year.
Andrew Heath, Protherics' chief executive, said: "manufacturing is often seen as the poor relation to research but there are tremendous advantages to being able to engineer processes that contribute so significantly to the bottom line."
