The Telegraph have reported that GSK today, announced that it has entered an agreement to acquire Cellzome for £61 million in which they already own a 20pc stake.
Cellzome is the leader in the development and advancement of proteomics technologies. It currently has labs in Cambridge in the UK and Heidelberg in Germany. GSK currently own 19.98 % equity in the company but they will now assume full control of Cellzome. It will become part of GSK’s R&D organisation.
John Baldoni, senior vice-president of Platform & Technology Science at Glaxo, said: “The acquisition of Cellzome adds significantly to our scientific capabilities and capacity to characterise drug targets, and provides the opportunity to further enhance Glaxo’s ability to bring medicines to patients in a more effective manner.”
GlaxoSmithKline and the University of Nottingham are to collaborate together to establish a new laboratory to accommodate the Centre of Excellence for sustainable chemistry and to construct an innovative carbon neutral sustainable chemistry laboratory.
The GlaxoSmithKline Carbon Neutral Laboratory for Sustainable Chemistry will be based on the University’s Jubilee Campus and its construction is being supported by a £12m grant from GSK
The focus on sustainability will be reflected in the building itself, which will incorporate the latest technologies to allow it to be carbon-neutral over its lifetime
Sir Andrew Witty, CEO of GSK said: “The carbon neutral laboratory will help affirm the UK as a global hub for the future of the life-sciences industry
BBC News have reported that GlaxoSmithKlinehave released a press statement today confirming that it will invest more than £500m in the UK across its manufacturing sites to increase production of key aspects for its pharmaceutical products and vaccines. This investment could create up to a 1000 new jobs.
GSK also announced a new manufacturing facility to be built in Ulverston in Cumbria. The biopharmaceutical facility will be its first new UK factory for 40 years.
Investment will also be made at the company’s two manufacturing sites in Scotland at Montrose and Irvine.
These investments represent one of the largest commitments to the UK life-sciences sector in recent years. They follow confirmation by the Government in the Budget yesterday that it will implement a ‘patent box’ to encourage investment in R&D and related manufacturing in the UK, by introducing a lower rate of corporation tax on profits generated from UK-owned intellectual property
Prime Minister David Cameron said: “This is excellent news, a major investment that will create many highly skilled jobs and provide a great boost to the economy….We have a world class life sciences industry, and I am determined not just to keep it here in the UK but significantly increase it too… Our innovative life sciences strategy and ground breaking patent box are already making a difference, helping to grow this important industry and ensure the great discoveries of the next decade happen here in British laboratories.
GSK Media Centre released a press statement announcing the launch of a new multi-disciplinary apprenticeship scheme. The programme, which will sit alongside GSK’s established graduate and undergraduate recruitment schemes, is aimed at 16-24 year olds and will offer positions at the company’s UK manufacturing, R&D and corporate sites.
The scheme will commence in August this year and GSK will take on 40 apprentices in the first intake. The apprenticeships will last between 2 and 4 years depending on which area it is in. There will be IT, R&D Laboratory Technician, Manufacturing, Supply Chain management and Artwork Design opportunities.
In addition to a competitive base salary, apprentices will benefit from a personalised training plan and a GSK mentor, who will provide advice and support over the duration of the programme. If there is an apprentice who demonstrates the skills and behaviour GSK is looking for, they will be offered a role with the company at the end of the programme
Natalie Woodford, SVP, Talent, Leadership & Organisation Development at GSK said: “GSK is committed to attracting and developing talent at all levels, and youth training and apprenticeships have a vital role in building the right skills our employees need for the future. We are delighted to announce this programme today, which will give young people hands-on experience in the life sciences industry; a key sector for the UK.”
The laboratory which is in Harlow, Essex will be operated by both scientists and leading experts from Kings College London. It will test 6, 250 samples throughout the duration of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is many more than have been tested in previous Games.
The new drug testing laboratory will employ over 1,000 staff to work within the anti-doping process, as well as 150 scientists who will carry out the testing. The team will be lead by Professor David Cowan from the Drug Control Centre at King’s College London. The laboratory will be in operation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Sir Andrew Witty, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline, said: ‘As a science-based organisation, GSK is well placed to help deliver the scale and cutting edge technology required to run an operation like the anti-doping facility for London 2012.
‘We have worked with King’s to put systems in place to enable this laboratory to test more samples than any previous Games and at the same time developing a blueprint for doping operations at future Games.’
As reported by the BBC, the award, named The Queen Elizabeth Prize of Engineering, will be awarded every two years for outstanding advances in engineering. The prestigious award will be launched later today at London’s Science Museum.
The award, which will be awarded to teams of up to three people, and will be awarded by the Royal Academy of Engineering and overseen by Lord John Browne, former CEO of BP. The award will also be funded by companies such as BAE Systems, Shell and GlaxoSmithKline, Speaking of the award, Browne stated,
“Engineering underpins every aspect of our lives. As the bridge between scientific discovery and commercial application, engineering feeds and clothes us and enables us to work, travel and communicate.
“But too often the engineers behind the most brilliant innovations remain hidden. The Queen Elizabeth Prize aims to change that.”
It is hoped that the award will help boost the profile of engineering and help encourage more young people to consider it as a career path.
As reported in This is Money.co.uk, the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) is planning on building it’s first new UK factory in 30 years. This will create 1,000 jobs.
As Andrew Witty, CEO of GSK explains, the plan comes are a result of tax breaks on innovation introduced by Chancellor George Osbourne, ‘Because of changes in the UK tax regime, it will be our intention to bring more activity to Britain and take advantage of the situation here and increase our contribution to Britain. If it [corporation tax] is going to come down over the next few years, it will attract us to pay more tax here.’
The global pharma are considering Cumbria, County Durham and two locations in Scotland for their new factory. A decision is expected to be made in May.
At least three private equity firms are planning a bid for GSK non-prescription drugs, reports Reuters.
The products being bid for include over the counter painkillers and vitamin supplements. These sales are the product of GSK’s reduction of non-core products announced in February, representing 10% of the consumer healthcare business. Bids for the products are expected on 8th August, but will be negotiable. CEO Andrew Witty expects the deals to close in the fourth quarter of 2011 before adding that GSK will be looking for the best deal for shareholders to benefit.
Rival companies are unlikely to bid for all the products GSK is looking to offload, worth a maximum of around £2 billion. However because the products will not be sold as a single body, analysts believe that GSK will not be able to make that amount. The lack of coherence in the products on sale, other than, as one analyst says “stuff that GSK doesn’t want,” also means it will be difficult to sell the portfolio for such an amount in one go.
The investment is expected to create up to 1,000 jobs in one of four UK plants, with Montrose thought to be the front runner due to the recent movement of biomanufacturing of several products from India to the Montrose plant. The Montrose factory also manufactures the products needed to make products that GSK inherited following its acquisition of Steifel in 2009.
Andrew Witty, GSK chief executive, praised the 280 staff at the Montrose factory for turning around what was an ailing site, up for sale at the turn of the Millennium, into a “globally competitive” production plant.
There is some speculation that the global pharmaceutical company, GlaxoSmithKline, are planning to open their first new UK factory in 30 years, potentially creating 1,000 new pharmaceutical jobs.
Andrew Witty, chief executive of GSK is said to have not ruled out Montrose as a possible location for the new factory. The Montrose site current has 230 permanent and 50 part-time staff on it’s payroll.
Speaking of the Montrose site, Witty stated, “It is extraordinary to think that a few years ago the Montrose plant was close to shutting.
But the workforce applied great brain power to cost and process efficiently and now we are bringing work back from India – and Montrose is where it is going.
This is a workforce that has outmanoeuvred the threat of closure.”
Other sites shortlisted as possible locations for the new biopharmaceutical site include Barnard Castle, County Durham, Irvine and Ulverston.
