UK technology innovation organisation CPI has today opened its Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre at the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland (AMIDS) in Renfrewshire, bringing 100 high-quality jobs and an initial estimated £200 million of technology investment into Glasgow City Region. The Centre has been supported by £88 million investment from public and private partners and will bring world-leading science and technology expertise under one roof to help accelerate state-of-the-art solutions in medicines development and manufacturing.
Building on Scotland’s growing reputation as a global hub for life sciences and manufacturing innovation, the Centre will also further enhance international investment into these key sectors. Its ‘Grand Challenge’ business model follows the UK Life Sciences Strategy roadmap, combining ideas from the pharma and technology sectors to help tackle issues such as increasing the pace and personalisation of medicine production and enhancing sustainability across manufacturing processes.
The Centre is situated next to the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland in the heart of AMIDS. It has been developed through a unique collaboration between CPI and 23 partner organisations from across the pharma sector, business, academia, and government. These include the University of Strathclyde, Scottish Enterprise, and UK Research and Innovation. Global pharmaceutical firms AstraZeneca and GSK are also among the Centre’s founding partners.
Other partners include Pfizer, Novartis and Alnylam, as well as business advisers PwC, and technology leaders Siemens and Applied Materials. Scottish Enterprise has contributed £16 million towards the facility.
CPI leads the Centre, providing skills training in advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing roles for the facility’s Renfrewshire-based scientists, technicians, engineers and apprentices. New advanced technology and manufacturing solutions developed between CPI and pharmaceutical companies based at the Centre will help the industry become more productive and sustainable, benefitting people across the globe through the development of new and improved medicines.
The Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre is fully Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) regulated, taking on many of the start-up risks involved in drug development, such as compliance with regulatory requirements for the development of new technologies. Partners can expect to see benefits to their manufacturing processes including greater productivity, reduced cost of drug development, greater compliance, and a reduction in carbon footprint.
CPI has strong links in Scotland and recently appointed Scottish business leaders Jackie Waring, Chair of AccelerateHER, and Myrtle Dawes, Director of the Aberdeen-based Net Zero Solution Centre, to its Board. CPI is also a partner in the Digital Process Manufacturing Centre in North Ayrshire.
Dave Tudor, Director of Medicines Manufacturing, Biologics and Quality at CPI, said:
“The facility we have built here in Renfrewshire is the first example of a consistent and concerted effort from the pharma industry to collaborate. This will be crucial to unlocking the challenges we’ve faced so far to translate research into tangible benefits that will help address unmet health needs.
“Our ‘Grand Challenge’ business model aims to bring key players together to accelerate solutions to key challenges including how we reduce waste and lower the industry’s carbon footprint through better, more efficient manufacturing processes. We want to drive strong research in areas like cell and gene therapy, RNA, and monoclonal antibodies and deliver digital solutions, better technology and advanced supply chain mindsets to support greater investment and growth in biological manufacturing.
“The next phase is about inviting companies into the new Centre so they can benefit from the existing technologies developed as a result of our Grand Challenges.”
Renfrewshire Council Leader Iain Nicolson said:
“I’m delighted to see the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre open in Renfrewshire, bringing high-value jobs and an estimated £200 million in advanced technology investment. It’s exciting to know new innovations and approaches in medicines manufacturing will be made in Renfrewshire at this one-of-a-kind Centre, potentially delivering global benefits.
“It marks a key step forward in our development of AMIDS, which has already attracted £185 million into Renfrewshire and continues to provide a major boost to the local, regional and Scottish economy.”
Ivan McKee, Scottish Government Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise, said: “Through our national economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise, we have provided £16 million for the Centre, which is arriving at a crucial time for Scotland, meeting a need for advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing, creating jobs in a vitally important sector, and presenting a compelling opportunity for international and domestic manufacturing businesses to locate in Scotland.
“As a key part of Scotland’s economic recovery, the Centre will produce benefits not only for the economy but for the health of the nation and will put Scotland at the forefront of advanced medicines manufacturing.”
Professor Sir Jim McDonald, Principal and Vice-Chancellor at the University of Strathclyde, said: “The Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre is an exemplar of strategic academic and industrial collaboration which highlights the important role such partnerships play in fostering innovation, the translation of research into practical applications, and the nurturing of the high-quality talent that businesses require.
“As part of AMIDS, and sitting alongside the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, this new facility will help to develop the technologies, systems, processes and products that will transform pharmaceutical manufacturing in this country and significantly boost the local economy. Scotland’s global reputation for advanced manufacturing is growing at pace, and the exciting Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre investment will further enhance this.”
