Alcon Pharmaceutical Facility, Tuas Biomedical Park, Singapore

Alcon is a Swiss pharmaceutical company, owned by Nestle SA since 1978 and with a significant stake belonging to Novartis. It manufactures and markets pharmaceuticals, surgical equipment and devices, contact lenses and other vision care products; the company has been actively researching and manufacturing in this area for over 65 years.

Alcon is one of the world's largest eye care companies operating in 75 countries with worldwide sales in 2008 of $6.3bn and profits of $2bn. Sales of pharmaceuticals for treatment of eye diseases have been growing at more than 20% per year in Asian markets and consequently the company has decided to expand and build a new production plant in Singapore.

Alcon has had a manufacturing site for surgical intraocular lenses in Beijing since 1992, producing the Acrysof intraocular lens implant, which is the most popular implant used in cataract surgery worldwide.

The company also broke ground in September 2008 on an expansion of its Huntington, West Virginia facility. On a 21-acre site in Cabell County, this is the world's largest manufacturing centre for intraocular lenses.

In Huntington the new 74,000ft² expansion will cost $25m and will be in operation by 2011, providing an additional 350 jobs in the area.

Alcon Singapore

The pharmaceutical plant in Singapore is the first Alcon manufacturing facility in the Asian region. The new 330,000ft² facility is being constructed on a leased 20-acre site in Tuas Biomedical Park. The facility broke ground in May 2009.

The Singaporean authorities have welcomed the new addition to the island's pharmaceutical / biomedical industry cluster as there has been a trade/export downturn due to the financial problems in the US. Output in December was down 34% on the previous year.

Ed McGough, who is the senior vice-president for global manufacturing and technical operations for Alcon, commented: "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."

The construction of the project is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2010. The plant is scheduled to become fully operational in mid-2012 pending regulatory approvals. The new plant will employ 150 personnel within three years of the opening.

Production

The facility in Singapore will mainly manufacture sight-saving pharmaceuticals to be distributed throughout the growing Asian markets in a cost-effective and efficient manner. When the plant becomes operational, the company expects to manufacture at a rate of more than 53 million units per year by the end of the third year of operation.

The new plant will provide pharmaceuticals for eye infections, glaucoma, dry eyes and eye inflammation. It will produce a range of the company's bestselling products for the expanding Asian market, including: Travatan (travoprost), Patanol (olopatadine) and Vigamox (moxifloxacin) ophthalmic solutions, Tobradex ophthalmic ointment, and Systane eye drops.

Construction

In August 2008 Foster Wheeler announced that its US subsidiary, Biokinetics, and its Singapore office (both part of the Global Engineering and Construction Group), had been awarded a contract by Alcon Laboratories for the conceptual and basic design (engineering and architectural services) of the new manufacturing facility in Singapore.

Bill Brydges, president of Biokinetics, commented: "This exciting opportunity highlights yet another step in our growing relationship with Alcon.

"Alcon's vote of confidence is a clear demonstration of the sound value proposition we offered.

"Our winning combination leverages Foster Wheeler's strong track record in pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical projects and its in-depth knowledge of the Singaporean market, together with our relationship with Alcon, and our ability to execute the concept/basic design phases in the US in line with our understanding of Alcon's requirements."