GSK updates on U.K. manufacturing network.
GSK this week issued several announcements intended to improve the efficiency and competitiveness of its manufacturing network. These include both investments for respiratory and HIV medicines manufacturing in the U.K. and strategic reviews, including the sale of several products and a proposal to close a U.K. manufacturing site.
Between now and 2020, the company plans to invest more than £140 million ($182 million) at its Ware, Hertfordshire, Barnard Castle, Co Durham and Montrose, Scotland sites. The investments will support expansion of manufacturing for respiratory and HIV medicines. This new investment is in addition to the £275 million ($357 million) announced last year and investment of over £1.2 billion ($1.6 billion) in U.K. manufacturing since 2012.
(Editor’s Note: Exchange rates calculated at £1 = $1.30 on July 20, 2017)
In pharmaceuticals, the company is to undertake a strategic review of its cephalosporins antibiotics business, with an option to sell the business including the associated manufacturing facilities. These medicines are produced at GSK sites in Ulverston, Cumbria, Verona in Italy and part of its Barnard Castle site. The company has also decided to outsource some manufacturing activity at its Worthing site in the U.K.
GSK will continue to manufacture other antibiotics such as Augmentin and will continue to conduct research on new antibiotics. The company has also decided not to proceed with a previously planned investment to build a biopharmaceutical facility in Ulverston as it no longer needs the additional capacity.
In its Consumer Healthcare business, the company intends to sell its Horlicks brand in the U.K. and is proposing to close the associated manufacturing site in Slough where U.K. product is made. In addition, GSK intends to sell the MaxiNutrition brand in the U.K. GSK is also exploring options to divest some other smaller non-core nutrition brands.
Overall, GSK employs a total of around 17,000 people across the U.K. of which 5,000 are in U.K. manufacturing operations. The proposals announced today for Worthing and Slough will result in a reduction of approximately 320 permanent jobs over the next 4 years.
Roger Connor, president, GSK Global Manufacturing and Supply said: “We have a substantial manufacturing presence in the U.K. and continue to support the network with new investment of more than £140 million in the next 3 years. At the same time, we have had to make some decisions which we know will cause uncertainty for some of our employees. We will do all we can to support them through this process.”
Philip Thomson, president, Global Affairs, GSK, said: “We are continuing to invest in science and our core businesses in the U.K. and we continue to see the U.K. as an attractive place for the life sciences industry. We are working constructively with the government and others to develop an ambitious plan for the sector as part of the U.K.’s new industrial strategy.”
The company said that none of the announcements made this week by GSK have resulted from the U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union.
(Source: GlaxoSmithKline plc)
Filed Under: Drug Discovery
