HATFIELD, England, June 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

New, high tech, global packaging facility for Eisai's investigational thyroid cancer treatment

Eisai today announces the expansion of its UK Hatfield based EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa, Russia and Oceania) Knowledge Centre with an additional high potency, global packaging capability. The new facility will primarily handle the blister packaging of Eisai's investigational treatment lenvatinib which is used to treat thyroid cancer as well as other types of solid tumours. Once fully developed, the expanded Hatfield site will also increase capacity to package and supply the anti-epilepsy drug (AED) Fycompa^® (perampanel) and other new products, to new markets around the world.  

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130617/621582 )

The Hatfield site is the company's EMEA headquarters and is growing in significance to Eisai's worldwide business as it serves as a global supply centre for new products. Fycompa was jointly developed in Japan and the UK and, as a result, Eisai is committed to a long-term global business structure and investment into further research and development in the UK.

The construction of the new, two storey 2,900m² packaging facility will expand the current 7,800m² Hatfield site by nearly 40%. The building works, subject to planning permission, is scheduled to start in September 2013 and be completed by mid-2014. This represents a foreign direct investment of over £8 million into the UK manufacturing industry. Eisai's planning submission includes a forecasted potential employee increase in the next 5-7 years of up to 40 new permanent personnel over the current staff of c.100 to service the additional packaging capacity.

Responding to today's expansion announcement, Rt. Hon. David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science comments: "Eisai's decision to invest is great news for the UK and reflects the Government's commitment to creating the best environment for life sciences. It will build on the Hatfield site's manufacturing capability, which I saw when I visited last year, and supports highly skilled jobs."

Mr Haruo Naito, President and CEO, Eisai confirms: "This new investment is a vote of confidence in our EMEA Knowledge Centre and Hatfield facility. The UK remains competitive as a location for advanced manufacturing and I am delighted that we are now able to expand our global centre for packaging at Hatfield, home to our EMEA sales and marketing, R&D, and manufacturing operations."

Gary Hendler, President and CEO, Eisai EMEA explains: "The purpose of this direct investment in the company's EMEA Knowledge Centre in Hatfield is to enhance our capability as a centre of packaging excellence for global supply of our growing range of products.  As we supply new and existing products to an increasing number of countries with different languages, our packaging capability needs to cope with an extremely high mix of low-volume packaging, often difficult to handle compounds such as lenvatinib.  Our expansion also reaffirms Eisai's commitment to and recognition of the importance of the life sciences industry in the UK today - we are proud that the UK has such a pivotal role in this Japanese pharmaceutical company's commercial growth strategy."

The expansion of this manufacturing centre underscores Eisai's human health care mission, the company's commitment to increasing access to innovative solutions in disease prevention, cure and care for the health and well-being of people worldwide. Eisai is committed to addressing the unmet medical needs of patients and their families.

Notes to Editors:

Eisai has a long and established history of scientific investment and partnership in the UK:

• Eisai's first investments into UK R&D began 20 years ago with a landmark partnership with the neurosciences department at University College London (UCL), established to undertake world-leading scientific research into neurodegenerative diseases. This partnership continues to this day.
• After entering a new phase in 2011, the company's Neuroscience Product Creation Unit (Neuroscience PCU) and UCL are currently engaging in joint research into neurodegenerative diseases, including biomarker research and drug discovery.
• Eisai is committed to making further contributions to address key unmet medical needs in neurosciences by maintaining and strengthening the relationship built up with UCL, whilst at the same time leveraging the knowledge accumulated over the course of the partnership for the benefit of patients and their families in Europe and beyond.
• Eisai established the £100 million EMEA Knowledge Centre (EKC), in June 2009 in Hatfield Hertfordshire. This site integrates the company's discovery research, clinical development, production, marketing, and EMEA headquarters functions with the aim of expanding business operations further in Europe and around the world
• In 2012, the Eisai Hatfield site became the first global, solid dose manufacture supply site outside of Japan for the antiepilepsy drug Fycompa (perampanel)
• Eisai plans the construction of an additional high potency, global packaging capability to handle the blister packaging of Eisai's investigational treatment lenvatinib (E7080) and later the packaging of Fycompa and other products.

Eisai in Oncology

Our commitment to meaningful progress in oncology research, built on scientific expertise, is supported by a global capability to conduct discovery and preclinical research, and develop small molecules, therapeutic vaccines, and biologic and supportive care agents for cancer across multiple indications.

About Eisai EMEA in Epilepsy

Eisai is committed to developing and delivering highly beneficial new treatments to help improve the lives of people with epilepsy. The development of AEDs is a major strategic area for Eisai in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Russia and Oceania (EMEA).

In the EMEA region, Eisai currently has four marketed treatments including:

• Zonegran^® (zonisamide) as monotherapy and adjunctive therapy in adult patients with partial-onset seizures, with or without secondary generalisation. (Zonegran is under license from the originator Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma). In Switzerland, Zonegran is only approved as adjunctive therapy.
• Zebinix^® (eslicarbazepine acetate) as adjunctive therapy in adult patients with partial-onset seizures, with or without secondary generalisation. (Zebinix is under license from BIAL). Zebinix is not approved by Swissmedic.
• Inovelon^® (rufinamide) for the adjunctive treatment of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome in patients >4 years (Inovelon is under license from Novartis Pharma AG)
• Fycompa^® (perampanel) for use as an adjunctive treatment for partial onset seizures, with or without secondarily generalised seizures, in patients with epilepsy aged 12 years and older

About Eisai

Eisai is one of the world's leading research and development (R&D) based pharmaceutical companies and we define our corporate mission as "giving first thought to patients and their families and to increasing the benefits health care provides," which we call human health care (hhc).

Eisai concentrates its R&D activities in three key areas:

• Oncology including: anticancer therapies; tumour regression, tumour suppression, antibodies, etc.
• Neuroscience, including: Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, pain and weight loss
• Vascular/Immunological reaction including: thrombocytopenia, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease

With operations in the U.S., Asia, Europe and its domestic home market of Japan, Eisai employs more than 10,000 people worldwide. From its Knowledge Centre in Hatfield, UK, Eisai has recently expanded its business operations to include Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Russia and Oceania (EMEA). Eisai EMEA has sales and marketing operations in over 20 markets, including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Ireland, Austria, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Portugal, Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Middle East and Russia.

For further information please visit our web site http://www.eisai.co.uk

Date of preparation: June 2013
Job code: Corporate-UK2014

SOURCE Eisai Europe Limited