Sixty jobs on way as part of £6.5m Almac project
John McQuaid, VP. Technical Operations, Pharma Services, uses the equipment in Almacs new non-GMP facility.
THE pharmaceutical company Almac is to create up to 50 to 60 additional jobs as part of the expansion of its pharmaceutical development services.
A new 13,400 square feet formulation development facility, complete with two new analytical laboratories, has been created at the firm’s Seagoe headquarters as part of the initial phase of a £6.5 million project.
As the new facility builds to full capacity over the next two to three years, Almac anticipates that up to 50-60 additional staff will be employed in analytical and formulation development roles as well as other indirect support roles.
The new facility will primarily focus on the development of tablet and capsule formulations for new drugs which are in the early stages of development and which have not yet reached the market.
The new ‘non-GMP’ facility will enable greater speed in formulation and process development, by creating an environment where development work can be progressed quickly and efficiently, free of many of the constraints usually associated with drug manufacturing.
This is possible because the drugs produced are prototypes which are used only to develop the formulation and manufacturing process and are not for human use. However, the new facility mirrors the technical capabilities already available in existing facilities where products are made for human use at a larger scale, so when the product has been developed at a small scale, to an appropriate stage, it can be transferred easily.
The combined services at the Seagoe site will enable an efficient and flexible solution for pharmaceutical development from product conception and initial testing to commercial production, which will address the growing needs of existing and new clients.
John McQuaid, vice-president technical operations, Pharma Services, said, “Almac’s new non-GMP expansion is a welcome addition to our existing facilities; it complements our existing GMP facilities, but crucially it enables us to operate with improved speed and efficiency in the early stages of projects. We can now offer a very attractive package to our clients, with a larger and more competitive service offering within the international drug development arena.
“As the new facility effectively doubles our current pharmaceutical development capacity, recruitment of experienced skilled staff has already started. As 2013 and the facility’s capacity progress, further jobs will be advertised,” said Mr McQuaid.
The Almac Group provides a broad range of services from R&D, biomarker discovery and development, API manufacture, formulation development, clinical trial supply and IXRS® technology (IVRS/IWRS), to commercial-scale manufacture. Almac provides services to more than 600 companies, including all the world leaders in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors.
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