Sirtex up on news of planned $4.5m manufacturing plant in Germany

Sirtex Medical (ASX:SRX) will spend $4.5 million to establish a manufacturing facility in Germany for its SIR-Spheres liver cancer treatment.

The German plant will be built over the next 24 months. It will have two “hot cells”, although initially only one will be fully commissioned.

The company said it is making the investment in response to an anticipated increase in demand for SIR-Spheres if the company can deliver positive results from the major Sirflox clinical trial.

SIR-Spheres microspheres are designed to deliver a targeted dose of radiation directly to liver cancer cells. They are injected via the hepatic artery.

While Sirtex has been routinely reporting double-digit growth in quarterly dose sales for the product, it has yet to capture a sizeable share of the addressable liver cancer market, possibly due to a comparative lack of formal clinical data from the treatments.

The company expects data from the Sirflox study to provide clinicians with the formal assurances they need, stimulating adoption of the treatment. The trial is due to complete recruitment in early 2013, and Sirtex expects to publish the results by early 2015.

In August, Sirtex revealed it is investing a further $4 million to triple its US manufacturing capacity for the treatment.

Sirtex Medical (ASX:SRX) shares grew 7% in Tuesday's trading to $11.80 as of 4.20pm Tuesday.