A PHARMACEUTICAL factory in County Durham played a significant role in boosting the performance of a drugs company.
GlaxoSmithKline yesterday revealed H1N1 treatments in reponse to last year’s swine flu crisis helped first quarter sales rise by 13 per cent.
The group said £698m in swine flu vaccine sales helped lift first quarter revenues to a better-than-expected £7.4bn.
Profits rose 16 per cent, with currency movements stripped out, to £2.2bn in the first three months of the year.
The company’s factory at Barnard Castle, which employs 900 people, was the only site in the country to work on the vaccine for UK patients.
Between September last year and February, the plant manufactured 130 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine Pandemrix, with 60 million for use within the UK.
Glaxo expects to see only another £20m in swine flu sales this year as governments scale back orders as the threat of pandemic receded.
It has already signalled a tough year ahead, amid a reduction in the swine flu vaccine and increasing pressure from cheaper generic competitors to its drugs.
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