Jobs boost as £ 200m hi- tech medicine facility is unveiled
AN E W m e d i c i n e de ve l opment a nd manufacturing facility – with 100 high- skilled j o b s – h a s o p ene d i n Renfrewshire.
The Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre is a partnership of Strathclyde University and big pharmaceutical firms, business and government.
The centre will work on the next generation of healthcare and medicine, personalised or precision medicine, developing new and improved treatments tailored to an individual’s specific needs using genetic factors unique to the person.
CPI, a UK technology organisation, has opened the centre beside the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland ( AMIDS). It is estimated to bring £ 200m of technology investment into the Glasgow City Region.
Partners in the programme expect to see benefits to their manufacturing processes including greater productivity, reduced cost of drug development, greater compliance, and a reduction in carbon footprint.
Dave Tudor, director of medicines manufacturing, biologics and quality at CPI, said: “The facility we have built here in Renfrewshire is the first example of a consistent and concerted effort from the pharma industry to collaborate.
“This will be crucial to unlocking the challenges we’ve faced so far to translate research into tangible benefits that will help address unmet health needs.”
Scottish Enterprise, and UK Research and Innovation and global pharmaceutical firms AstraZeneca and GSK are also among the centre’s founding partners. Other partners include Pfizer, Novartis and Alnylam.
Ivan McKee, Scottish Government minister for business and enterprise, said: “Through our national economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise, we have provided £ 16m for the centre, which is arriving at a crucial time for Scotland, meeting a need for advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing, creating jobs in a vitally important sector, and presenting a compelling opportunity for international and domestic manufacturing businesses to locate in Scotland.
“As a key part of Scotland’s economic recovery, the centre will produce benefits not only for the economy but for the health of the nation and will put Scotland at the forefront of advanced medicines manufacturing.”