Almac Group, a global contract pharmaceutical development and manufacturing organization, announced the completion of a £20 million investment in its cold chain management capabilities with the opening of a 95,000 sq-ft custom-built cold store facility at its global headquarters in Northern Ireland.
With more than 30 years’ experience in global distribution and management of temperature sensitive drugs, this expansion strengthens Almac’s ability to provide service to its growing global client base by ensuring efficient and effective delivery of both clinical supplies and commercial drug products.
The cold store is built in response to customer requirements, which includes consideration to the rapidly growing area of orphan drug products, changes to regulatory compliance and a more stringent focus on data across the supply chain. The additional capacity and tailored design also offer clients the opportunity to scale up with Almac as their biologic/biosimilar product portfolio increases.
The new facility complements Almac’s existing global clinical supply and drug product capabilities, with more than 3,000 pallet spaces, including -15°C to -25°C storage capacity, additional 2°C - 8°C secondary production rooms, 3PL processing areas and a custom-designed clinical labeling suite. Supplementary office space has also been included to accommodate 100 new employees who will be recruited as a result of the expansion.
Alan Armstrong, CEO of Almac Group, says: “This new facility at our global headquarters expands our cold storage capacity by 300% and our frozen storage capabilities by over 50%, enabling us to better serve our clients, and ultimately patients worldwide.”
This news comes just weeks after the company announced a £30 million investment in its new European campus based in Dundalk, Ireland which will ensure the company meets current and future client needs in the EU marketplace. This expansion includes a new QC laboratory, packaging facility for commercial drug products and a dedicated 79,000sq ft EU Distribution Centre for clinical trial supply, all of which is scheduled to be operationally ready by January 2019.
