The manufacturer of a key treatment for bird flu will move to larger headquarters in Sussex.

Roche Diagnostics will be relocating from Lewes to Victoria Business Park in Burgess Hill, building on the 13-acre former Ericsson site.

The Swiss pharmaceutical company produces Tamiflu, which cannot cure avian flu but is widely seen as the best anti-viral drug to fight it.

Jan Van den Boer, general manager, said: "This is a positive step forward for Roche Diagnostics in the UK and we are pleased to be moving to a site which allows us to remain in Sussex.

"The building will allow for the expansion of our business and will be a fantastic facility for our staff to work in and for our customers who come to visit."

The purpose-built facility, covering four acres, will include office accommodation in a "landmark building," which developers believe will generate a major boost for the local economy.

It will replace the medical giant's current headquarters in Bell Street, Lewes, which employs more than 200 people and will now be put on the market for about £4 million.

Developers said the remaining nine acres on the Ericsson site are already being considered by a number of companies who "will make a substantial contribution to the area's continued commercial viability".

David Carden, Burgess Hill town clerk, said: "We very much welcome their presence here. Roche are a prestigious company and they will be very good for the town. They have confidence in the future of Burgess Hill as have we. This is good for both the local economy and the workforce."

Sales of Tamiflu soared to £122 million in its third quarter, boosted by stockpiling of the drug ahead of the threatened flu pandemic.

Forty governments have placed large orders to protect their populations in case the bird flu virus mutates into a form where it poses a serious threat to human health.

Companies are also placing orders to protect their workforce.

Roche is now producing more than 100 million capsules of Tamiflu a year with demand far outstripping its supply even though the company has doubled its production every year for three years.

Tuesday, October 25, 2005