A new £4 million pharmaceutical testing facility that will help to boost Scotland's capabilities in the life sciences sector was officially opened in Livingston this week
Tepnel Research Products and Services has invested in the West Lothian site, as a key part of the strategic growth and development of its pharmaceutical outsourcing business.
The company already provides analytical solutions to a range of pharmaceutical, biotechnology and life sciences companies operating in Scotland as well as on an international platform.
This investment will increase both the scope and range of its pharmaceutical services portfolio allowing access to new customer and market segments.
The facility, which has been part funded by Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian, will also house Tepnel's genotyping and molecular genetic testing laboratories along with the existing analytical chemistry, bioanalysis and microbiology facilities.
The construction has enabled the company to consolidate its two operating facilities from Edinburgh and Glasgow, creating an additional 20 jobs and maximising efficiency gains.
Jack Perry, chief executive of Scottish Enterprise, officially opened the centre.
He said: "The global biopharmaceutical market is worth around £24 billion and is expected to experience double digit growth over the next few years.
"With pharmaceutical companies increasingly outsourcing clinical trials and analysis to help to get their products to market faster, companies like Tepnel are ideally placed to capture a share of that growth.
"Scotland has a world class life sciences sector and having a dedicated pharmaceutical testing facility such as Tepnel's will help to increase Scotland's capabilities within the sector by establishing another link in the local supply chain.
"This will help to support both indigenous life sciences companies as well as attract other global pharmaceutical companies to invest in Scotland".
The state-of-the-art laboratory will allow Tepnel to continue its successful development of some of its specialised products and services into high growth, high value areas such as pharmacogenomics, where next generation vaccines and the rapidly evolving therapeutic protein market require a different skill set.
It will also complement other life sciences developments such as Edinburgh BioQuarter and BioDundee and help consolidate Scotland's position as a world-class hub for life sciences research and development.
Ben Matzilevich, chief executive officer of Tepnel Life Sciences, comments: "We very much appreciate the financial, marketing and business support we have received from Scottish Enterprise.
"As our pharmaceutical service capabilities expand to focus on genomic and proteomic opportunities, we have found the environment in Scotland to be highly conducive to biotechnology.
"The availability of scientists and qualified technicians is exceptional.
"With excellent transportation, hotels and necessary infrastructure our pharmaceutical business has done exceptionally well and continues to see double digit growth".
Tepnel's facility is the latest in a series of big life sciences investments in the West Lothian region.
In June 2007, Quintiles announced it was to establish a £7.5 million facility at the Alba Campus, creating 150 new jobs while Austrian company Intercell announced last year that it was expanding its vaccine production facility in Livingston, creating 15 new jobs.
