NPIL Pharma to augment Scottish facility
NPIL Pharma (UK), a division of Nicholas Piramal, has announced plans to expand its High Potency Substances (HPS) facility in Grangemouth, Scotland.
NPIL Pharma (UK), a division of Nicholas Piramal, has announced plans to expand its High Potency Substances (HPS) facility in Grangemouth, Scotland.
The programme includes recruitment of 16 additional technical and operation staff and a £268,000 investment in containment upgrades. The hardware investment will bring more cGMP capacity for clinical trial materials on stream by the end of 2006.
NPIL says the expansion is a response to strong customer demand for anti-cancer cytotoxic APIs - and in particular to the emerging monoclonal antibody (mAB)-conjugate sector, which could trigger future investment in commercial capability by the company.
The move follows the NPIL Pharma's recent acquisition of Avecia's Pharmaceuticals business (December 2005) and of Pfizer's UK manufacturing facility in Morpeth, Northumberland (June 2006).
Key elements in anti-cancer chemotherapies, cytotoxics are increasingly combined with mABs to create immunoconjugates. These offer a more targeted approach to cancer treatment, with fewer side effects, and are expected to take a significant future share of the major worldwide oncology treatment market in the pharmaceutical sector.
The number of pre-clinical and active clinical programmes involving immunoconjugates is over 20 and growing steadily
The High Potency API business at Grangemouth is a major contract manufacturer of high potency APIs (cytotoxics and Prostaglandins) and a pre-clinical/clinical development partner in this segment, and has capabilities in both conventional synthesis and biotechnology.
The new containment upgrades to an existing 500m2 GMP suite include additional high integrity barrier isolation for the safe handling for category 4-5 toxins used for conjugation to mABs and other targeting agents. Room classification has been upgraded to class C (10,000) throughout.