February 25, 2005

Biovail plans $27.6M expansion of Manitoba plant

TORONTO

Biovail Corp. plans a $27.6-million expansion at its flagship manufacturing plant in Steinbach, Man., as the drug maker gears up to meet demand for its Wellbutrin XL antidepressant and new products.

Construction at the plant, which opened in 1992 and was expanded in 2002, is expected to begin this spring and be completed in late 2006, the Mississauga, Ont.-based company said Tuesday.

Chief executive officer Douglas Squires, who joined Biovail in October, said Wellbutrin XL volumes in 2004 highlighted the need to expand.

“Steinbach is our flagship facility,’’ Squires said. “So it’s the logical place to make this type of investment.’’

Although Manitoba Premier Gary Doer attended the Biovail announcement in Steinbach, where he held a cabinet meeting, Squires said there are no provincial incentives tied to the expansion.

“We’ve been here for 15 years, so I think the relationship with the provincial government has been very good and very strong,’’ he added.

“And we, of course, explore ways in which they can help us in terms of training and recruitment and any other issues we might have. But with this particular investment there’s nothing uniquely linked to that.’’

Doer called the plant expansion “a strong vote of confidence for the growing life sciences sector in Manitoba.’’

“Workers in Manitoba have the right work ethic, the kind of training to do highly skilled work and the ability to do it efficiently,’’ the premier said.

In the past 18 months, staffing at the Steinbach plant has almost doubled to 550 people — largely due to the success of Wellbutrin XL.

The products from Steinbach, 70 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg, use a drug-delivery technology that regulates how quickly medication is absorbed.

“These are very sophisticated technologies. It involves how drug products are coated, the types of coatings used and so on,’’ Squires said.

In addition to Wellbutrin XL, which accounted for nearly one-third of Biovail’s overall revenues in the most recent quarter, the plant makes Cardizem LA, used to treat high blood pressure and angina.

In future, it will also make versions of the painkiller tramadol hydrochloride and of Venlafaxin SB, an antidepressant that’s under development, Squires said.

Biovail, Canada’s largest publicly traded pharmaceutical company, has been plagued by missteps and mishaps that have driven down its stock price since peaking at about $90 in late 2001.

The Canadian Press

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