Romanian vaccine producer Cantacuzino Institute on the verge of collapse, employees demand manager's dismissal

Romania's Cantacuzino Institute, one of the seven European producers of flu vaccine, is in danger of being completely shut down. The Institute has struggled to survive in recent years, and has reached a point where all its vial production lines have closed down, standing in need of authorizations from the National Drug Administration.

Union members in the Institute have recently asked for the dismissal of the Institute's director Radu Dorel Lucian, who, according to unions, refuses to make acquisitions. The manager, who was dismissed in 2009 for bad management after four years at the helm of the Institute, was reinstated in September last year by the country's Health Ministry. Union leaders say the manager canceled some production lines, without offering alternative solutions, and accused him of intentionally losing bids for private competitors. Stopping local production would mean higher prices for imported vaccines. “Basically, the activity of labs that belong to medical testing and the bacteriology areas are blocked. Moreover, employees are not informed about the institute's critical financial situation, and the demands from the organization and from the financial director to reduce expenses have not been answered,” according to the Institute Union. The Cantacuzino Institute is now unable to deliver some 300,000 BCG vaccine doses to the Health Ministry because it lacks the production authorization from the National Drug Administration. Also in danger are some 400,000 vials of the drug Polidin. Representatives of the Institute and the country's Health Ministry's representatives will meet in the coming period to find solutions. editor@romania-insider.com (photo source: Photoxpress.com)