Many of the world’s most successful companies can be separated from the also-rans by the way they make important innovations in the manner they do business.

Melbourn Scientific - one of the UK’s leading providers of contract analytical, formulation and drug development services for the pharmaceutical, healthcare and biotech sectors - has seen a significant increase in demand from overseas clients after adding new services to its portfolio.

Its strategy, which includes working with UK Trade & Investment, the government organisation that supports business, has seen sustained growth from across the globe, and work with clients from more than a dozen countries now makes up 30 per cent of the company’s turnover.

Melbourn Scientific has recently once again completed a successful GMP (good manufacturing practice) audit from the UK’s Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, providing a seal of approval for its services.

Carol Barbour, the company’s director of Quality, explained that as an approved contract testing laboratory, clients can identify Melbourn as a testing facility on their manufacturing licence applications and be confident that the facility is acceptable to the authorities reviewing their application.  

“GMP is mandatory for various later stages in the development of pharmaceuticals, therefore using us as a partner in drug development programmes will enable small companies and larger pharmas to fast-track their products through to release, maximising the benefit achieved from early approval of products. There are also advantages where clients are at an earlier stage in the development process.  

“Although early research does not need to be performed in accordance with GMP, having work performed to a recognised quality standard gives confidence in the results, helping facilitate any due diligence processes if IP [intellectual property] is being shared with external partners - and potentially increasing the value placed on this data,” she added.

Melbourn is currently expanding its facilities for work on early-stage formulation development by the creation of a suite of rooms specifically for this function. These rooms will allow flexibility to support multiple projects running at the same time.

“By offering our clients analysis, formulation development and small-scale production on one site, it is possible to screen a wide range of formulations, in a cost and time-effective manner, in order to identify those most likely to succeed,” continued Carol Barbour.

The Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the organisation that scrutinises all licensed medicines in the UK to ensure they meet acceptable standards on safety, quality and efficacy, and therefore protect the health of the public. It audits all companies working within this area to assess the compliance of the facilities with good manufacturing practice (GMP) and to assure the integrity of the data being submitted.  

Having a successful audit confirms that a facility is working in compliance with GMP and gives clients added confidence in the work performed on their behalf.
 
Melbourn Scientific provides high quality analytical and formulation services to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industry. Its clients include major pharmaceutical companies, drug delivery innovators, consultants and virtual companies.

The company has invested continually in the latest equipment and provides a range of services such as pharmaceutical analysis, physical testing; stability trials; high-performance liquid chromatography, and inhaled product analysis.

Mark Hammond, its chief executive officer, was one of 100 business leaders invited to attend a recent reception to congratulate companies on export success at an event organised by Lord Davies of the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown thanked those who attended for everything they were doing for the UK’s economy, exports and confidence, saying: “All of you have made important innovations in the way you do business. You are helping the country through one of the most difficult financial periods and, by increasing your growth rates, making sure that the economy can remain strong for the future.”

To meet demand from both overseas as well as domestic markets Melbourn Scientific has continued to expand the range of analytical and formulation services it offers, as well as doubling the size of its facilities to support a growing workforce. The company began life 20 years ago during a recession, and is used to responding to challenges in the life-science industry.

CEO Mark Hammond added: “Outsourcing services to an experienced partner is a sound strategy, particularly in a turbulent environment. Our plan over the last year has been to invest in both our staff and the latest equipment so that we can offer new services that are complementary to the existing services. Working with our clients, we have found unique ways to shorten project timelines by running key activities in parallel to ensure timely delivery of project milestones and helping to make projects more cost-effective.”

Melbourn Scientific benefits from being part of the Cambridge cluster in eastern England and works closely with innovative medical technology, biotech and life-science companies that are world leaders in their field.

Its founder and chairman, Steve Westcott, is overseeing the laboratory expansion that should be completed in 2009. He said: “Our growth over the past two years has driven a requirement for additional expansion of our laboratory facilities. Our existing state-of-the-art laboratory space already works to the maximum benefit of our clients, as it was designed from the ground up for exactly what we do, with key areas already ‘built in’ to allow for future expansion.

“With the stability storage and formulation laboratory capacity increasing still further, we will be able to expand the range of services on offer and greatly increase the amount of projects taking place over a given period. This expansion underpins our commitment to attracting new clients and responds to existing clients’ changing requirements,” he added.

Notes for Editors

Media contact:
Rachel Holdsworth
Tel: +44 (0)1954 202 789
Email: Rachel@holdsworth-associates.co.uk 

Melbourn Scientific:
Martin Westcott, Business Development Manager, Melbourn Scientific Limited, Saxon Way, Melbourn, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom, SG8 6DN
Tel: +44 (0)1763 261 648   Fax: +44 (0)1763 261 791

Web: www.melbournscientific.com  

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