GSK says it will invest in expanding three manufacturing facilities

Pharmaceuticals giant GSK has announced it is investing £275m in expanding three of its manufacturing facilities.

The money will be invested in sites at Barnard Castle, Durham; Montrose, Scotland; and Ware, Hertfordshire.

Investment will be used to boost production of GSK’s latest respiratory and large molecule biological medicines, the vast majority of which will be for export to global markets.

Andrew Witty, chief executive of GSK, said: “It is testament to our skilled UK workforce and the country’s leading position in life sciences that we are making these investments in advanced manufacturing here.”

GSK’s investment plans

  • Barnard Castle in County Durham is one of GSK’s biggest secondary manufacturing sites, employing 1,100 people. The site supplies nearly half a million packs of products per day to 140 global markets. The investment announced today of £92 million will fund the construction of an aseptic sterile facility supporting the manufacture of existing and new biopharmaceutical assets in our pipeline.
  • Montrose in Angus in Scotland manufactures active ingredients for respiratory, HIV and vaccine products and employs over 450 staff. This investment of approximately £110 million will provide a new, state-of-the-art facility for the manufacture of respiratory active ingredients.
  • Ware in Hertfordshire, employs 1200 staff, manufacturing innovative respiratory products. Today’s investment of £74 million will support further expansion of the company’s new Ellipta respiratory inhaler through additional manufacturing capacity at the site.