Business

Almac investing £16m in first centre in England

Almac will create state-of-the-art GMP analytical labs at Charnwood
Almac will create state-of-the-art GMP analytical labs at Charnwood Almac will create state-of-the-art GMP analytical labs at Charnwood

CRAIGAVON-headquartered pharmaceutical giant is investing £16 million to set up its first operation in Britain.

The company said the expansion of its formulation and analytical development services was "to meet ongoing client demand".

The centre is expected to create 180 jobs over the next five years and come fully operational in 2017.

The announcement comes a week after the group revealed a multi-million pound acquisition of Arran Chemicals in the Republic.

And just four months ago, Almac officially opened new offices in Singapore as part of a strategy to lay down roots in the Asia Pacific region.

Almac said it had negotiated to operate a significant proportion of the 70-acre Charnwood Campus in Loughborough, England – a world-class science, technology and enterprise park and the firm's first facility in England.

Almac will occupy the formulation development and analytical testing facilities at the site which will complement existing development and GMP services offered from its Craigavon NI headquarters.

The Charnwood facilities were originally designed and built by a global Pharma company as part of its in-house formulation development, clinical manufacturing and analytical testing capabilities.

Almac has now commenced recommissioning of the facilities with operations focusing initially on expanding both non-potent and potent solid oral dose processing

It is anticipated that around 180 new jobs will be created over the next five years adding to Almac’s global workforce which currently stands at over 4,000.

Almac Pharma Services managing director Graeme McBurney said: “As we experience increased client demand for our pharmaceutical development and niche commercial manufacturing services, this latest expansion will significantly enhance Almac’s offering, increasing capacity and capability and further demonstrating our continued commitment to support our global clients in the development and manufacturing of their drug products.”

In addition to the Republic and Singapore, Almac has facilities in Europe, the US, and satellite offices in Japan.

Last year the company announced it would invest £54m in expanding its pharma services and clinical services operations over the next five years, creating almost 350 jobs in Craigavon.