The Pfizer Pharmaceuticals plant in Ringaskiddy manufactures high-quality human health care products. Currently, there are three production facilities on the Ringaskiddy site with a fourth under construction. The products are exported to Pfizer formulation plants in Europe and the United States and the resulting formulated products are then distributed world-wide. Pfizer markets products in a wide range of therapeutic areas such as cardiovascular, infectious diseases, central nervous system disorders, arthritis, erectile dysfunction, diabetes and fungal infections. The search for new treatments, which spans hundreds of research projects across 31 major disease groups, continues at Pfizer research laboratories.
I joined Pfizer Pharmaceuticals in Ringaskiddy as a process development chemist after completing my PhD in University College, Galway. That was just over 10 years ago. It was the start of a very exciting time for Pfizer because of the very healthy product pipeline. The substantial investment in research and development in the eighties was paying dividends. For a chemist it meant new challenges and opportunities such as visiting the research site that had discovered and developed the product to a stage where a new drug application (NDA) had been submitted to the FDA and European regulators. It was the chemists' responsibility to learn the processing details and then carry out the process at laboratory scale in the Ringaskiddy laboratory. This gave an opportunity to get more experience with the process and also allow production personnel to view the process. At this stage some opportunities for improvements may be identified. However, these were for another day. The product was manufactured in production exactly as transferred from the research laboratories and with the assistance of research personnel. After the product was approved by the various regulatory agencies and a successful launch completed, the improvement opportunities became an area of major focus for the chemist. These included yield improvements, optimisation of time cycles, non-isolation of some steps, safety and environmental improvements and various other process optimisation steps. Some of these were easy to implement but others required a significant amount of work, which often involved running the optimised process at pilot plant scale to ensure it worked at larger scale. All the changes undertaken had to be very carefully assessed from a quality viewpoint. It was critical that the product quality was not compromised because of the change. All these changes reduced the cost of producing the product, and the increased output from the process meant that the quantity required would take less time to produce and thus free up plant capacity for other much-needed products. Central Research were kept updated on the changes and this allowed them to better understand what areas they should be focussing on when developing a new product. It also resulted in closer links between the manufacturing plant and central research.
After spending a number of years as a process development chemist, I took up a position as a team leader in the development laboratory. This position involved co-ordinating the activities of the group and providing support and guidance to the chemists. In 1996 I was appointed manager of one of the production facilities. This was a great experience and helped develop my engineering skills, and I learned about areas of the plant I hardly knew existed. In 1998 I moved to my current position as Head of the Technical Services department. The Technical Services department comprises of two main areas, namely process development and quality operations. My experiences as a chemist have stood me in good stead and are invaluable in my current role.
The role of a chemist in Ringaskiddy today is just as challenging as it was when I started. The responsibilities are the same, supporting production, introducing new products from research, and constantly trying to improve and optimise processes. Communications is a vital part of the role. As in the past, face-to-face meetings are critical for good working relationships. However, teleconferences, videoconferences and e-mail form an integral part of a chemist's daily life. As well as working closely with Central Research on new products, chemists today also work very closely with their colleagues in the Pfizer manufacturing facilities in the United States. This has led to greater sharing of knowledge, elimination of duplication of work, better use of resources and enhanced teamwork. Similar to myself, process development chemists have gone on to take up challenging roles in various other departments in Ringaskiddy: production, customer services, environmental health & safety, to name a few. The chemist's role is very exciting, challenging and rewarding and is an excellent platform for future personal and professional development.
For further information contact http://www.pfizer.ie