Bioindustrial company CollTech has appointed Keytown Construct-ions to build its Collie collagen extraction and purification plant.
The company has not announced the value of the contract.
Keytown is a subsidiary of the VDM Group, a privately owned construction company.
Keytown, under the supervision of project manager Kellogg Brown and Root, will start site work soon.
The awarding of the contract follows the recent signing of commercial lease and services agreement with Western Power Corporation.
The agreement secures a 20-year lease over the collagen extraction plant site on three hectares of land adjacent to the Collie power station.
Western Power will also provide power and medical-grade water to the Collie facility.
CollTech CEO Michael Pixley was coy on the value of the Western Power leasehold agreement.
Mr Pixley said the company remained on-track to complete its pre-commissioning program prior to commencing production for the first anticipated sales of medical-grade collagen in early 2005.
Investors did not seem to share Mr Pixley’s excitement for the news, however, with CollTech shares dropping from their recent high of 16 cents to around 14 cents.
CollTech plans to draw its collagen from sheep and the Collie plant puts its close to both raw materials and transport routes for the finished product.
The company also recently appointed a sales agent for the northern Asian market.
Mr Pixley said the company expected to receive its first sales orders by December, about the time its plant is to be commissioned.
