A British consortium has begun a project designed to improve tablet manufacturing efficiency within the UK pharmaceutical industry. The project aims to dramatically reduce the cost of drug manufacture, by proving a new continuous process for making tablets in place of the traditional batch process.
The consortium includes GlaxoSmithKline, GEA Pharma Systems Ltd, Siemens Industrial Automation and Drives Technology, University of Warwick, Newcastle University and Sagentia - a Cambridge, UK-based developer of new technologies.
Funding for the project will come from The Technology Strategy Board, a government-funded body that supports technological innovation in the UK, and the aim is to enable UK companies to compete more effectively with lower cost economies.
The efficiency gains are targeted at improving manufacturing precision, productivity and mass yield, and will be deliverable at approximately 70% of the capital cost of conventional technology.
Iain Gray, chief executive of the Technology Strategy Board, said: "This investment is intended to maintain and develop the international competitiveness of UK manufacturing companies against a backdrop where manufacturing often gravitates to countries with lower overall costs. It's also important to ensure that companies continue to innovate during the downturn to ensure a successful recovery for the UK economy. This is part of a concerted drive to help to unlock competitive potential in high value manufacturing."
Adrian Howson, head of Pharmaceutical Process at Sagentia, said: "We are delighted to be involved in this project. Traditional tablet manufacturing process has evolved into one that is easy to regulate but very manual and therefore expensive to operate in western economies. As a result, manufacturing capacity is being exported to Asia Pacific where labour costs are lower and UK manufacturing plants are already starting to close. This is an important opportunity for the UK pharmaceutical industry to maintain worldwide competitiveness in pharmaceutical manufacture."