Nausea drug helps Helsinn Birex's Irish arm to double profits
Swiss pharmaceutical group Helsinn Birex more than doubled profits at its Irish arm to €52m last year as the subsidiary notched up exports of €122m.
The Irish division of the company, whose drugs include treatments to target the effects of cancer, also paid a €28m dividend to its parent in 2009, up from the €10m that was paid in 2008.
Accounts just filed for the business at the Companies Office show that turnover for the year jumped 26pc to €129.5m, with the boost to profitability having been driven by the company's Palonosetron product.
It's used for the prevention and treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.
Just over €5m of the Irish unit's total sales were made into the Irish market.
The €28m in dividends paid by the company last year comprised a €13m dividend in respect of its 2008 financial year and a €15m interim dividend in respect of the 2009 period.
R&D
Helsinn employs close to 140 people in Ireland and spent €3.4m on research and development in 2009, a figure that was virtually unchanged on 2008.
It also spent over €280,000 on clinical studies. It has a manufacturing facility in Mulhuddart, Co Dublin, which it acquired in 1990.
- John Mulligan
Irish Independent
