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Cancer care provider Icon Group鈥檚 compounding arm, Slade Health, has opened a new TGA licensed facility in Woodville, South Australia.

The new facility has the capacity to deliver more than 300,000 chemotherapy infusions annually and provide employment for 100 specialised roles.

鈥淲ith cancer rates on the rise and increasing costs of medications and more complex treatments, this facility provides the opportunity for more efficient provision of cancer medicines to public hospitals around South Australia, while maintaining the highest standards of Good Manufacturing Practice as required by the TGA,鈥� said David Slade, Icon Group Global Director聽鈥� Pharmacy and Compounding.

Minister for Health and Wellbeing and Member for Kaurna SA Chris Picton MP and Federal Health Minister and Member for Hindmarsh SA Hon Mark Butler MP opened the facility and welcomed its addition to South Australia鈥檚 growing healthcare capabilities.

Access for regional and rural patients

鈥淲e鈥檙e manufacturing lifesaving medications and our dedicated team are helping patients and their families, giving them new opportunities, more time and the potential of a better quality of life.鈥�

Pharmacist and Area Manager Helen Ma said the Woodville facility delivers critical benefits to patients in regional and rural communities, helping them to access lifesaving care and treatments when and where they need it most.

鈥淭hrough TGA compounding, Slade Health can safely extend the shelf life of complex medicines,鈥� Ma said.

鈥淧reviously, if a clinician wanted to treat a patient from Whyalla with a new drug that had a short shelf life, the patient would have needed to drive an eight-hour round trip to Adelaide for their medication. But now with this facility, these patients may be able to stay closer to home and family in Whyalla and have access to a broader range of treatments.

鈥淣ow the medicine comes to the patient, rather than the patient to the medicine.鈥�

Clinical trials

Icon Group CEO Mark Middleton said, 鈥淲e have a three-year commitment to invest $50 million in South Australia cancer care infrastructure, including this facility, the opening of a third cancer centre and the introduction of the latest in radiation therapy treatments and clinical trials to ensure more people can access the treatment they need, when and where they need it.鈥�

The Woodville facility also has the capability to assist hospital partners in the delivery of clinical trials across oncology and haematology and form part of South Australia鈥檚 growing cancer hub with the ability to provide compounded medicines to hospital providers in other states.

Image credit: iStockphoto.com/BeyondImages