The US pharmaceutical company Pfizer has announced it will close down its Adelaide manufacturing plant by 2021, according to the ABC.
The Thebarton factory employs 89 workers and makes a drug called Pegfilgrastim, which is used to treat chemotherapy and is exported globally. The company plans to consolidate its manufacturing in less locations. The company claims that it will redeploy its workers elsewhere
Pfizer purchased the factory in 2015 and in 2016 announced plans to expand it.
The move was welcomed by the South Australian government as a “wonderful sign” of a long-term commitment to drug manufacturing at the time.
Pfizer said that the decision was about buffing up its existing network.
“This has been a difficult decision, and was based on a number of factors including the existing capacity within Pfizer’s global manufacturing network and the efficiency of consolidating manufacturing to fewer locations,” the company said in a statement to ABC.
In late 2015, Pfizer merged with Allergan in a deal worth US$160 billion (A$209 billion).