Building work has begun today on the UK’s first national Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (MMIC).
MMIC will be a unique and world-leading facility focusing on:
- small molecule and pharmaceutical manufacturing
- speeding the development of next-generation medicines
- increasing technology opportunities within the medicines supply chain.
Industry, academia, healthcare providers and regulators will work collaboratively to address industry challenges and de-risk new technologies, providing a clear pathway for the widespread adoption of new medicines.
Collaboration
MMIC, which will be headquartered in Scotland, is funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Scottish government and involves a collaboration between the public and private sector, including GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca.
Companies of all sizes will be able to use the facilities to evaluate, test and prototype processes using an array of advanced technologies including continuous, digital and autonomous manufacturing.
The centre will use next-generation technology to produce drugs more efficiently and meet the health challenges of now, and the future, by bringing new medicines to market safely and quickly.
It will be completed in late 2021 and be operational in early 2022, creating 80 jobs in both technical and non-technical roles.
Meeting health challenges
Minister for Life Sciences Nadhim Zahawi said:
Backed with £13 million government funding, this centre is the first of its kind and will significantly boost our domestic medicine manufacturing capability to ensure we are prepared for any future health crises.
Complementing our state of the art Vaccines Manufacturing Innovation Centre in Oxfordshire, it will ensure we are at the forefront of transformational technologies, attracting tens-of-millions-of-pounds of investment to the UK and creating new highly-skilled jobs in the Renfrewshire area. This is a great example of how we are working to build back better.
Innovation and investment
Andy Jones, medicines manufacturing challenge director at UKRI, said:
MMIC will play a key role in the infrastructure the UK is building, investing in medicines manufacturing innovation to tackle today’s health challenges and those of the future.
It will also be ideally placed to help turn great ideas into great business, ensuring that UK innovators can access a global, life sciences market worth some £98 billion.
Dave Tudor, managing director of MMIC said:
The consortium is already working together on several ambitious projects with the aim to de-risk disruptive technology that can lower the cost of drugs.
Live projects include a digitally twinned continuous direct compression platform to increase the productivity of drug product manufacture, and an automated platform to enable just-in-time supply for clinical trials which will drastically cut lead times.
We look forward to bringing that technology and cross-sector expertise to these new facilities.
Further information
MMIC will develop the medicines manufacturing processes of the future, enabling a more agile, responsive medicines supply chain through improved manufacturing processes. It will enable new and disruptive technologies to be proven at scale in a GMP environment. This will allow the rapid adoption of next-generation processes that reduce risk, cut costs and save time, enabling a healthier society and a robust UK economy.