3 minute read - 11th September 2024
Symbiosis Pharmaceutical to invest £26m in Scotland
Symbiosis Pharmaceutical Services, a contract manufacturing organisation (CMO), has purchased new premises in Stirling, Scotland, to significantly increase manufacturing capacity, strengthen its commercial manufacturing service offering and expedite the fast delivery of sterile injectable drug products.
Close to its existing manufacturing cleanrooms, testing laboratories, and GMP warehouse facilities, the purchase will double the company’s existing footprint to 43,500 sq ft (4,000m²). The new facility will safeguard around 130 skilled jobs at Symbiosis and generate an additional 50 new life science sector jobs.
The new facility and service extension project, supported by a grant from Scottish Enterprise totalling £4.3m, will be implemented over a three-year period as part of a wider £26m investment by Symbiosis to drive growth. The project includes the addition of two new automated sterile manufacturing production lines to extend the commercial fill/finish services that Symbiosis offers its clients by substantially increasing the maximum batch size to 15,000 vials.
Symbiosis Pharmaceutical is making a £26m investment over three years and creating jobs at a new manufacturing facility in Scotland / Picture: Symbiosis Pharmaceutical
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The visual inspection of vials post-production, and the labelling processes have also been fully automated. Additionally, this investment in the latest automated technology will enhance operational flexibility to accommodate the GMP sterile manufacture of a range of drug modalities and also product-specific manufacturing processes defined by clients.
The increased batch output from the additional production lines will enhance Symbiosis’s clinical stage and commercial pharmaceutical supply capacity to service a new and existing global biotechnology and pharmaceutical company client base.
Having purchased the building and completed the cleanroom build and automation installation phase of the project, the company has entered the qualification phase in readiness for regulatory inspection in November. Symbiosis aims to have its new automated GMP sterile manufacturing capability fully operational and producing client product by the start of 2025.
The new facility with significantly increase manufacturing capacity and strengthen Symbiosis’ commercial manufacturing services / Picture: Symbiosis Pharmaceutical
Colin MacKay, CEO of Symbiosis, said: “By investing in this new 20,000 sq ft facility and the cutting-edge pharmaceutical manufacturing automation, Symbiosis has positioned itself to provide additional significant world-class aseptic manufacturing capacity for our existing and future clients globally and represents the next major strategic chapter in the successful and consistently fast-growing trajectory of Symbiosis. This step-change in operational capacity and the addition of automation, while retaining the organisational and cultural strengths of a fantastic team here at Symbiosis, positions the company for sustained growth and the continued generation of value for clients and shareholders alike.”
Alison Clayton, strategic projects director at Symbiosis, added: “This expansion illustrates our continued investment in solving new and emerging drug therapy manufacturing challenges, working alongside drug developers to commercialise, scale and accelerate the path to delivering safe and effective medicines to patients. It also represents the latest strategic initiative for Symbiosis following the recent addition of in-house quality control (QC) microbiological and analytical testing services in 2023. Together with the expanded manufacturing capacity, these investments will directly support the strategic ambition of Symbiosis to further develop its targeted market presence in North America and the EU.”
