Life Therapeutics to move more operations to US

Life Therapeutics (ASX:LFE) will relocate two of its three business divisions from Sydney to Atlanta, Georgia in the USA by March 31, 2006.

The company's diagnostics production facility will be moved in its entirety to Atlanta and its bioprocess division will now be incorporated into the manufacturing division located in Atlanta.

"It's closer to the customer, and also it's closer to the FDA [Food and Drug Administration], which for us is an important thing as we go forward," said Life Therapeutics CFO John Manusu.

Eleven staff members will be made redundant as a result of the move, said Manusu.

Life Therapeutics' gels manufacturing division, the R&D function headed by the company's Chief Scientific Officer Dr Kailing Wang, some finance functions and investor relations will still be based in Sydney.

As part of the move, Life Therapeutics will sell its Frenchs Forest facility with the object of paying off the company's debt on the building and contributing at least AUD$3 million to its operating budget for the 2006 financial year.

The Frenchs Forest office is currently on the market but as part of the sale the company will remain at the site until March 31.

"It will take us some time to get the manufacturing up and running in the States and to get the regulatory approval for that facility," said Manusu. "Then we will move to a smaller location somewhere else in Sydney, yet to be determined."

When asked what how staff were feeling about the move, Manusu said that: "In many respects there's relief. They know where their future is.

"They knew as we got bigger and bigger, and we had to start looking at what our customers were saying to us... and we started to get more involved with the FDA, it was clear that there would be a move to the US," said Manusu.