Expansion creates 30 new jobs
A Stirling company has increased its workforce by 50 per cent after a £1.5 million investment in its premises.
Symbiosis Pharmaceutical Services, based in Stirling University Innovation Park, has expanded its sterile biologics manufacturing facility by 25 per cent.
In the last 12 months, the company has created an additional 8,000 sq ft of office space to house its administrative, management and operational teams while also expanding manufacturing space and supporting services infrastructure.
Chief executive Colin MacKay said they now had more temperature controlled storage space and their first automated labelling and packaging equipment.
Expansion had also allowed the firm to increase its staff from 60 to 90.
Mr MacKay added: “The investment in the new facility is driven by the significant organic growth of the company as a result of its continued success in the niche market of sterile manufacturing of advanced therapeutic medicinal products such as viral vector and other biopharmaceuticals. Our customer base has grown by more than 25 per cent in 2019 alone.”
He explained the expanded facility was recently completed and is now fully operational.
It had been part-funded by an Innovate UK grant from the UK Government aimed at strengthening Britain’s supply chain in the field in which the company operates.
The firm estimates continued investment and demand for services will increase output by another 25 to 30 per cent in 2020.
Symbiosis is a Contract Manufacturing Organisation (CMO) established in 2011 in response to an increasing global demand for niche, sterile manufacturing specialists that could satisfy product needs for clinical trials.
It also has an office in the heart of the global biotech industry in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
A spokesperson added that the company had built its reputation on supporting both pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with its vial-filling expertise and small-scale aseptic manufacturing capabilities.
A CMO is a company that serves other companies in the pharmaceutical industry on a contract basis to provide comprehensive services from drug development through to drug manufacturing.