Norwegian fish vaccine manufacturer Pharmaq has chosen to invest heavily in large-scale GMP production of viruses for fish vaccines in a new facility at Kløfta, its largest ever investment.
At present the company rents premises for virus production from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health in Oslo. But the Institute is about to close its production facilities so Pharmaq has been forced to move. The company had thought to move production abroad, before it discovered the right facility was available closer to home.
Morten Nordstad, managing director, Pharmaq, said: "For us this is a strategic decision which enhances our ability to supply ever more new products to the aquaculture industry.”
He said that although investing in Kløfta is more expensive than investing in production facilities abroad, the company has concluded that maintaining its existing production expertise and the proximity of R&D to production facilities are crucial to its capacity for rapid innovation. Moreover, the premises in Kløfta lend themselves well to rebuilding.
"We will now have new premises which are very well adapted to our production processes. This will improve our ability to develop and supply new vaccines rapidly, and at the same time we will maintain the important closeness to our research and development environment,” he added.
Adaptation of equipment at the new premises will cost at least NOK150m, which will be shared with the owner of the building, the insurance company Oslo Pensjonsforsikring (OPF).
It may be the largest investment ever made by Pharmaq, but according to Mr Nordstad, it’s essential.
He said: "The global aquaculture industry will continue to grow. However, the growth of the industry is hampered by challenges presented by fish health and diseases. Vaccines are a crucial part of the solution to these problems.”
The new production facilities at Kløfta will produce virus antigens for use in vaccines for fish farming. They will be capable of producing several hundred million vaccine doses per year. Production is due to start in the first half of 2017.
