Almac Group continues with expansion efforts

Almac Group, the global contract development and manufacturing organisation, today announced the acquisition of 100% shares of BioClin Laboratories, an independent and privately-owned organisation based in Garrycastle, Athlone.

The announcement came just days after Almac announced it was set to create 200 new jobs after securing Government approval and a license at it’s Loughborough site to produce various drugs.

Almac Group investing and expanding in both Ireland & the UK / Picture: Almac

BioClin was established in 2002 and is internationally recognised for providing expert analytical services and rapid reporting of data to support drug development and product release. Its bespoke 14,000sq ft modern facility significantly increases Almac’s analytical capacity and perfectly complements its existing business enabling strategic expansion and greater ability to serve clients’ needs globally.  The acquisition will see BioClin’s analytical experts join Almac Sciences’ strong network of almost 600 employees across multiple sites in Europe and North America.

Almac also recently completed significant expansion of its existing analytical facilities at its global headquarter site in Northern Ireland with the creation of a new, bespoke, MHRA approved laboratory.

This acquisition is also the second announcement of investment in Ireland and comes after theannouncednnouned a multi-million euro expansion of Almac owned, Arran Chemical Company, also based in Athlone, which substantially increased Almac’s manufacturing capacity for fine chemicals, pharmaceutical intermediates and advanced building blocks.

Established in 2002 and located in Garrycastle, just two hours away from Almac Group’s Headquarters in Northern Ireland, BioClin is internationally recognised for providing expert analytical services including cGMP pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical analysis, GMP microbiology testing and GLP bioanalysis. The company also boasts Ireland’s leading GLP certified (INAB), cGMP certified (HPRA) and FDA registered contract laboratory.

Dr Stephen Barr, Managing Director, Almac Sciences said: “We are delighted to announce this acquisition demonstrating further commitment to strategic growth and development of our global business. Adding BioClin’s highly complementary analytical capacity and technical expertise to our existing capabilities, we are able to broaden our service offerings and address our global clients’ growing demands for a high quality, integrated, efficient service. We look forward to working with the BioClin team and plan to invest significantly in this facility. This is an exciting development and sets the pace for future growth”

Mary Burke, Managing Director, BioClin Laboratories added “We are very pleased to join Almac. With our shared values for outstanding quality, expertise and innovation we see this as an excellent strategic fit for BioClin enabling us to expand and deliver an enhanced range of analytical solutions to an international client market.”