Sirtex Medical to open facility in Singapore

Australian oncology company, Sirtex Medical (ASX:SRX) today announced it will open a manufacturing facility in Singapore within 18 months.

Sirtex Medical Chief Executive Officer, Gilman Wong, told the company’s annual general meeting in Sydney that planning for the new facility was underway and that the new facility would cost less than $2 million to build and would supply the company’s targeted liver cancer treatment to India, South Korea, Taiwan and China where liver cancer is a leading cause of death and health care costs.

Sirtex Medical already has manufacturing facilities in the USA and Australia that manufacturer the company’s targeted therapy to treat liver cancer, SIR-Spheres microspheres.

Last week Sirtex Medical announced its would pay shareholders its fully franked dividend of 2 cents per share, plus a special dividend of 5 cents per share, with a record date of 30 November 2009 and payable 15 December 2009.