GSK announces £200 million investment in UK advanced manufacturing and science

GSK today announced a series of investments totalling approximately £200 million that will support the delivery of the company’s pipeline of new medicines and create a centre for pharmaceutical manufacturing innovation in the UK.

Manufacturing sites in Ware, Hertfordshire and Worthing, Sussex will be upgraded with new state-of-the-art equipment. In addition GSK will establish a new facility dedicated to harnessing innovative technologies with the potential to transform both the way medicines are made and the company’s supply chain.

Roger Connor, GSK’s President of Global Manufacturing and Supply, said: “The establishment of the Patent Box has transformed how we see the UK as a place to invest. As a result, last year we announced we were building our first new factory in the UK for 40 years. The investments announced today are in addition to that and will allow us to harness new technologies that have the potential to deliver a step-change in how we make medicines. These new technologies could significantly reduce costs, improve quality and enable the manufacture of medicines in weeks rather than years and I am delighted that we have been able to bring these investments to the UK.”

Jeremy Hunt, Health Secretary, said: "On the day when we are bringing together the health leaders of the developed world, researchers and pharmaceutical countries to launch the global fight against dementia, it is great to see GSK investing more money and resources into UK life sciences. GSK's decision to invest in the UK shows we are creating the right conditions for global investment, leading to job creation and growth, as well as maintaining the UK's place as a world leader in innovation."

The investments announced today comprise:

• New manufacturing facilities in Ware for the Relvar^TM Ellipta^TM inhaler – the latest generation of GSK’s inhaler devices for respiratory disease. The Ellipta device was developed at Ware and will now be produced at the site before being exported worldwide.
• In Worthing, a new bulk sterile building and filling line will be built for the company’s leading antibiotic medicine Augmentin^TM, which is exported to 150 countries.
• A new centre for manufacturing innovation will be built, dedicated to transforming emerging science and technologies into practical manufacturing applications. These technologies range from mimicking nature using enzymes and biologically inspired catalysts, to using nano-technologies to create intelligent drug product formulations which minimise side-effects and enhance efficacy. Although subject to further decisions, GSK’s preferred site for the location of the new centre is Ware, Hertfordshire where the company already has manufacturing and R&D facilities in one location.

The establishment of the Patent Box has made the UK a globally competitive location for investment in high-tech manufacturing and research facilities. Today’s investment is on top of the £500 million GSK announced in March last year which included a commitment to build a new factory in Ulverston, Cumbria. That investment is creating up to 1,000 jobs and continues to progress on schedule. GSK also recently announced an investment of £25 million to expand its operations in Montrose to support the delivery of its new pipeline of medicines.

Notes to editors

• GSK’s manufacturing site at Ware employs 800 staff, of whom more than 500 make respiratory products including Relvar/Breo^TM. The site exports more than 35 million packs of respiratory products to 120 countries, as well as shipping more than 400 million tablets a year.
• GSK’s Worthing site has more than 950 employees making both active ingredients and finished medicines which are supplied to 157 markets worldwide. In the last full year the site supplied more than 100 million packs of medicines and more than 1,000 tonnes of bulk products.
• Read GSK's 2012 Patent Box announcement on GSK.com

GSK – one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies – is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. For further information please visit www.gsk.com.