Molecular Light Technology Research's (MLT) new state-of-the-art manufacturing and r&d facilities in Cardiff, Wales, has been opened by Professor the Baroness Finlay of Llandaff, President of the Royal Society of Medicine.
The expansion follows an investment of £2.9m by MLT's parent company Gen-Probe Inc and marks the start of plans to double turnover to £9m over the next five years with the creation of 15 new jobs. The company currently employs 41 people at its Llanishen base.
MLT Research was established in 1991 as a spin-out from the University of Wales College of Medicine (now Cardiff University Medical School) and its chemiluminescent technology has been licensed internationally, with FDA approval secured for diagnostic tests based on this technology.
MLT was acquired by Gen-Probe, of San Diego, in 2003 as a platform both for further r&d technology development and to develop it into an international manufacturing centre.
International operations Manager Damien Lucas, who has been leading this development, said MLT's facilities were now state-of-the-art and have been developed to the highest cleanroom standards with controlled and monitored environments. 'We are ready to start production of innovative medical and industrial diagnostic test kits for Gen-Probe for its global markets as well as offering, for the first time, contract manufacturing services to other companies and organisations,' he said.
'We are able to accommodate a range of scenarios from companies at the process development and pilot scale-stage right through to those requiring higher volume processing and filling - all to cGMP standards.'
MLT's managing director Dr Molly Price-Jones said the opening of the new facilities marked the start of the next phase of MLT's development as an international manufacturing centre of excellence in diagnostic test systems. MLT now aims to partner biotech innovators and suppliers in both this growing Welsh sector and across the rest of the UK.