GSK to build new manufacturing plant
23 Mar 2012 by Evoluted New Media
GlaxoSmithKline are to build a new manufacturing facility in Cumbria and invest more than £500m in their UK manufacturing sites to increase production of key active ingredients for its pharmaceutical products and vaccines.
The company have selected Ulverston in Cumbria as the location for the first GSK manufacturing facility to be built in the UK for 40 years, and have earmarked £350m for the construction. Construction is expected to start in 2014/15, and it is likely to take six years before the plant is fully operational.
GSK will also invest more than £100m across their Montrose and Irvine sites in Scotland to enable manufacture of respiratory medicine and aluminium adjuvants. The company hope to create up to 1,000 new jobs across both ventures.
“We can confirm that we will build GSK’s first new factory for almost 40 years and that we will make other substantial capital investments in our British manufacturing base,” said CEO Sir Andrew Witty. “This will create up to 1,000 new jobs over the lifetime of the projects.”
“We are also actively considering other investments in our UK manufacturing network which would create further jobs and reinforce the UK’s international competitiveness and as a world leader in life sciences.”
The investment – which represents one of the largest commitments to the UK life sciences in recent years – follows confirmation by the Government in this week’s budget that it will implement a ‘patent box’ to encourage investment in R&D and related manufacturing in the UK. The move offers a lower rate of corporation tax on profits generated from UK-owned intellectual property.
“The introduction of the patent box has transformed the way in which we view the UK as a location for new investments, ensuring that the medicines of the future will not only be discovered, but can also continue to be made here in Britain,” said Witty.
“This is excellent news, a major investment that will create many highly skilled jobs and provide a great boost to the economy,” said Prime Minister David Cameron. “It shows we are right to cut business tax and focus in making the UK a dynamic and competitive place that can attract exactly this type of tech investment.”
