Alcon To Build Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plant In Singapore

Alcon, Inc. says it plans to build a facility in Singapore that will manufacture pharmaceuticals to be distributed throughout most of Asia.

The company plans to break ground in 2009 with the plant being fully functional in 2012.

Alcon will employ more than 150 employees within three years after commencing production.

Over the past several years, Alcon's sales of pharmaceuticals that treat diseases and conditions of the eye have risen at a compound annual growth of more than 20% in Asian markets.

This growth has been driven by many of Alcon's major brands.

By building this plant, Alcon will be able to more efficiently and cost-effectively distribute pharmaceuticals in the high-growth countries in Asia.

Says Ed McGough, Alcon's senior vice president, global manufacturing and technical operations: "After a lengthy and careful analysis of potential plant locations and through close collaboration with the Singapore Economic Development Board, we selected Singapore due to its highly skilled and reliable workforce and well-established government infrastructure."

Alcon will lease a 20-acre plot of land on which the company will build a 250,000 square foot facility in the Tuas Biomedical Park, which is the location for many other pharmaceutical and biotechnology company facilities.

The company expects to manufacture at a rate of more than 53 million units per year at this facility by the end of the third year of operation.