The Friday Interview/Andrew Witty, GSK Pharmaceuticals:Compared to the IT sector where today's innovation can suddenly become tomorrow's obsolescence, the pharmaceutical and chemistry sector has traditionally appeared the epitome of solidity, with the sector in Ireland proving a durable and lasting source of employment.
However that solidity masks another reality - that of a highly-competitive industry which constantly needs new products to sustain growth, profits and jobs as medicines come off patent and rivals develop newer, safer and more effective treatments.
Ireland's pharmaceutical industry plays host to all but two of the 15 largest global pharmaceutical companies worldwide but, recently, there have been signs of distress in the sector with a number of plants moving business to cheaper production environments.
That's what made last week's announcement by GlaxoSmithKline of plans to invest €250 million at its Currabinny plant in Cork, in a move that will create 150 jobs, so welcome.
"We work in a very high-risk business. As an industry, for every 10,000 molecules which we synthesise or discover, only about 10 make it to the marketplace, so it's a very high-risk business - most of what we do fails," said Andrew Witty, president of GSK Pharmaceuticals in Europe.
"It's very difficult to find medicines that are safe and effective. When we do succeed, we want to go with them quickly and there's no better example than our breast cancer drug Tykerb," he says.
GlaxoSmithKline's Currabinny plant was heavily involved in the development of Tykerb and the investment announced last week will see the Irish plant producing lapitinib, the main active ingredient for its new breast cancer drug for supply worldwide. "We had very rapid approval [ from the FDA] but that put huge pressure on production in Cork. Thanks to the team here, we were able to supply patients quickly and, within 24 hours of the American approval, the first patients in America were being treated with Tykerb."
The drug is the first targeted once- daily oral option for women with advanced or metastatic breast cancer, and clinical trials, which included participation by 77 Irish women, found that it slowed the progression of advanced breast cancer by more than 50 per cent.
The opening of a €34 million research and development facility at Currabinny - which currently employs 600 of GSK's 1,600-strong Irish workforce - helped to secure the drug for Cork.
Tykerb looks set to become a major earner for GlaxoSmithKline as the corporation works to expand its share of the oncology drugs market, which is expected to surpass cholesterol- reducing drugs as the top pharmaceutical sector.
Analysts predict a market worth €41 billion by 2009.
One of the world's largest pharmaceutical giants, GSK last year generated profits of €11.5 billion on revenues of €34.1 billion but its success, Witty insists, is dependent on its ability to continue developing new drugs through R&D and then pricing them correctly.
He points out that Tykerb, which has yet to secure European approval, is priced in the US below its main rival for treating advanced breast cancer, Herceptin. "It's not in our interests to spend 15 years developing medicines and then have governments not being able to afford them," he said.
An economics graduate from the University of Nottingham, Witty joined Glaxo UK in 1985 and held various positions there before becoming managing director of Glaxo South Africa. From there he was promoted to area director for south and east Asia.
It is in the light of that global experience that his views on GSK in Cork, which began life at Currabinny as Penn Chemicals in 1975 and became SmithKlineBeecham in 1989 before becoming GSK in 2000, make for encouraging reading.
While the Cork operation might seem fortunate in that it has a steady supply of new drugs coming on stream, much of the credit for that must go to the Cork team which, under site manager Finbarr Whyte, has earned a reputation within GlaxoSmithKline for delivering.
"This facility has never let down the corporation," Witty says. "It has a 100 per cent track record and because of that, we have a very high confidence in terms of increasing the amount of work we want to do here, and more importantly, introducing some of our most important medicines into Cork."
Witty instances the current mix which is seeing a gradual easing back on production of its anti-depressant, Seroxat following the expiry of patent protection, and a ramping up of other drugs still patent-protected such as diabetes medication Avandia and heart drug Coreg CR.
"We have only two or three new product introduction sites in the world and this is one of them, and when you look at our portfolio of new products in development, you should expect to see more new products coming here, provided Cork continues to perform at the very highest level."
It's not just the Cork plant that has impressed Witty. He also admires the manner in which Ireland works to attract business - from the way universities tailor courses to meet industry needs and the quality of research available to firms which IDA Ireland and the Government support.
He points to the willingness of Government and State agencies to listen to what a company like GSK might require in terms of a skilled workforce and then liaising with the universities to achieve that - as well as the quality of clinical research work being done in Ireland.
"John Crown in St Vincent's hospital in Dublin, for example, was an author on the key Tykerb clinical trial. He is somebody who is a world leader in this field, and having somebody like him in Ireland is attractive because it means we can have greater collaboration here.
"I have had the chance to work all over the world and I have to say the level of support and engagement and willingness to listen that you get from your Government and IDA Ireland really is quite exceptional."
On the Record
Name:Andrew Witty.
Born:1964.
Position:President, GlaxoSmithKline pharmaceutical operations in Europe.
Family:Married to Caroline, they have a son and a daughter.
Career:Has worked for Glaxo Smith Kline since joining Glaxo UK in 1985 after graduating in economics from the University of Nottingham. Most recently he was responsible for GlaxoSmithKline's operations in Asia Pacific, based in Singapore.
Something that might surprise:Served as economic adviser to the governor of Guangzhou, China, 2000 to 2002.
Some things you might expect:Is a member of the Working Group of Pharma Futures and sits on the Imperial College Commercialisation Advisory Board.
Outside interests:Is a keen golfer and tennis player, enjoys wine and travel.
Why is he in the news?GSK has announced a major investment in its Cork plant to manufacture a new product - in the development of which the plant's R&D team was heavily involved - which was recently approved for use by the US regulator, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
