Bioton's new blood line

Polish biotechnology company Bioton has announced plans to lease a plant formerly run by the bankrupt Plasma Fractionation Laboratory (LFO). Bioton has signed a 10-year lease contract for the LFO plant in Mielec for zł.80,000, with preemption rights as a part of its strategy of entering the blood-derivative medicine market.

Bioton is the country's biggest producer of human insulin, with around a 30-percent share of the market by production. Its other areas of activity include antibiotics and a hepatitis B vaccine, for which manufacturing has recently begun in Israel.

The LFO plant will be used for the process of blood plasma fractionation, necessary for the production of medicines for the treatment of hemophilia, among other illnesses. The investment in the plant is due to be completed in the next two years and is estimated to cost $40-50 (zł.119-149) million. "There is a huge demand for such products," declares company president Adam Wilczęga. "Thus, we expect to recoup the costs soon."

In completing the project, the company is counting on the support of the Ministry of Health. The investment is expected to increase the availability of blood-derivative medicines, as Poland has one of the worst levels of plasma fractionation in the EU, and depends to a large extent on external supplies.

The European Council recommends that its members maximize self-reliance in obtaining fractionated plasma. Bioton wants to cater for the required minimum amount of 400,000 liters of plasma per year in Poland and target foreign markets such as Russia, China, Ukraine and India. The investment is hoped to reduce the present market value of blood-derivative medicines, as well as to revive the difficult economic situation around Mielec.