CPI has announced the start of construction at the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre in Renfrewshire, Scotland.
It is planned to accelerate the development and industrialisation of next-generation medicines manufacturing innovations and maximise technology opportunities within the medicines supply chain. Industry, academia, healthcare providers and regulators will work collaboratively within a GMP environment to address industry challenges and de-risk new technologies.
The Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre is a collaboration between CPI, the University of Strathclyde and founding industry partners, GSK and AstraZeneca with funding provided by Scottish Enterprise and UK Research and Innovation. The centre has recently agreed partnerships with four technology companies to further strengthen the collaboration’s range of expertise.
The facility will translate, at industrial and commercial scale, novel techniques for producing patient-centric medicines, including real-time release of drugs, and integrated process analytics to drive the transformation of medicines manufacturing.
Companies will be able to use the facility to evaluate, test and prototype processes using Industry 4.0 manufacturing technologies, including continuous, digital and autonomous manufacturing.
The facility is due for completion late 2021 and will be operational in early 2022. It is expected to eventually house over 80 staff in both technical and non-technical roles.
Nadhim Zahawi, Life Sciences Minister, said: “Backed with £13 million of government funding, this centre is the first of its kind and will significantly boost our domestic medicines manufacturing capability to ensure we are prepared for any future health crises. Complementing our state of the art Vaccines Manufacturing Innovation Centre in Oxfordshire, it will ensure we are at the forefront of transformational technologies, attracting tens-of-millions-of-pounds of investment to the UK and creating new highly-skilled jobs in the Renfrewshire area – a great example of how we are working to build back better.”
Frank Millar, CEO at CPI, said: “Aging populations, the increasing cost of drug development, and resource constraints impeding the adoption of emergent technologies are just some of the challenges facing the pharmaceutical industry today. The increasing financial burden on the healthcare system as a whole has led to a pressing need for more cost-effective medication. By connecting the dots between academia, government, industry and healthcare providers within this state-of-the-art centre, we can address these issues and transform the pharmaceutical supply chain for the future.”