As the European pharmaceutical industry prepares for new serialisation requirements set out in the Falsified Medicines Directive (FMD), the new headquarters will allow TraceLink, the world’s largest track and trace network for connecting the life sciences supply chain, to continue its growth and support pharmaceutical companies in this market.
The new headquarters form part of a £55 million investment into the company’s overall global operations this year and follow an impressive 656% growth in European sales bookings for Q1.
Boris Johnson, Uxbridge MP and Foreign Secretary, said: “I am delighted to join TraceLink to celebrate its continued success and decision to add further investment and jobs into the UK.
“In 2015 the UK life sciences sector contributed £30.4 billion in UK GDP, supported 482,000 jobs and contributed £8.6 billion in taxes. TraceLink's decision to create substantial job growth and invest in its European headquarters adds yet further strength to the importance of the life sciences sector to the UK economy and is a real boost for the local communities.
“With an honourable mission to help the life sciences industry protect the global medicine supply, I am proud to have companies like TraceLink right here in Uxbridge to continue pushing the UK to the forefront of the global life sciences sector.
“The Government's drive to improve UK healthcare outcomes can only be helped by the ongoing success of the UK life sciences sector and companies like TraceLink continuing to innovate in order to tackle global healthcare challenges.”
The new headquarters will enable TraceLink, a life sciences technology firm with its US headquarters in Massachusetts, to create roles for 55 new employees in Europe across sales, services, marketing and administration during 2017.
TraceLink also plans to expand its European team by more than 80% in the next 12 months as demand for its cloud network solution increases within the European pharmaceutical sector.
Shabbir Dahod, President and CEO of TraceLink, said: “Expanding and investing in our presence in Europe is a natural response to the demand we have seen from companies for our proven, scalable network solution to meet their serialisation needs and comply with EU FMD. We are deeply committed to continuing our investment into Europe and furthering our mission to enabling innovation in the global life sciences sector and protecting patients.”
The development of the European team will be focused on continuing to build regional and native expertise, and expanding the 15 languages already spoken by the current TraceLink services team in EMEA. Worldwide, TraceLink expects to have over 400 employees by the end of 2017, an 80% year-over-year increase in global employee growth.
As part of its EU recruitment drive, the company has also added two regional EU sales leaders, deepening its pan-European presence to develop localised TraceLink teams dedicated to serving the life sciences industry in specific markets, including the DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) region and Southern Europe.
