Molecular Profiles starts work on clinical manufacturing facility
pharmafile | January 16, 2012 | News story | Manufacturing and Production | Molecular Profiles
UK contract research and manufacturing services company Molecular Profiles has announced a £9 million investment in manufacturing facilities in the UK.
The investment marks a shift in focus for the outsourcing services provider, with a significant increase of clinical trial material manufacturing capacity to complement its formulation development activities.
The company plans to open 30,000 sq. ft. of additional space at its site in Nottingham that will house six Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) production suites – including capacity to manufacture high-potency active pharmaceutical ingredients (HPAPIs) – as well as new laboratories and a packaging unit.
The new unit is scheduled to open in 2012 and is being supported in part by a £1.6 million grant from the UK’s Regional growth Fund, which was awarded in October 2011, according to an Invest in Nottingham report. At the time the company said the funding would help it create more than 60 new jobs.
The announcement tops off a period of capital investment at Molecular Profiles, including the recent installation of a £200,000 confocal Raman microscope for use by the privately-held firm’s analytics division, and an Xcelodose powder micro-doser for capsule and vial filling.
Molecular Profiles’ chief executive Nikin Patel said: “The construction of significantly larger manufacturing and laboratory facilities is a strategic decision based on customer demand”.
“Our strategy for expansion is well underway and securing the regional growth funding is a clear endorsement of our strategic growth plans”, he added.
Molecular Profiles was formed as a spin-out from the University of Nottingham in 1997, and won Queens Awards for industry in both 2007 and 2011.
The 2011 Award was granted in recognition of Molecular Profiles’ nanoPASS system, an analytical technique that generates formulation data from tiny quantities of potential drug candidates and helps predict those that are most likely to reach the market.
Phil Taylor
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