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Sharp, a part of UDG Healthcare and a provider of pharmaceutical packaging and clinical services, has appointed Paul Thomas as business development manager for its UK commercial services.
Reporting to Jeff Benedict, chief commercial officer at Sharp, Thomas has taken responsibility for generating commercial packaging sales at Sharp’s Rhymney site in South Wales and will also work alongside European BD colleagues supporting Sharp’s Belgian and Netherlands facilities.
Thomas, who joins Sharp from Westfield Medical Ltd, has more than twenty years’ experience in healthcare and pharma packaging sales. In the past, he has worked for Aptar Pharma where he was responsible for the commercial device development for Narcan, an overdose rescue medicine, which was approved by the FDA in 2015. He has also held roles at Bemis Healthcare Packaging, Budelpack and GE Healthcare in Cardiff, where he was packaging development manager.
Jeff Benedict said: “I am very pleased to be welcoming Paul to the team. He will be invaluable as we develop packaging solutions for customers leveraging the extensive capabilities and experience at our Rhymney site.
“Sharp has a full suite of commercial packaging and clinical services to offer its clients in Europe, including the UK which remains a key geography for our customers. Through Paul’s experience and that of our UK team, Sharp can offer insights and solutions on the best route to market in Europe in the post-Brexit environment.
“We have invested heavily to create a strong presence in Europe offering primary and secondary blister packaging activities, kitting of medical device and aligned markets and related QP services for access to European markets to clients from the Rhymney facility.
“Paul brings skill, industry knowledge and experience to our team and his contribution will help us better serve our customers and expand our position as a leading partner of choice.”
Thomas holds an MBA from the University of South Wales and is a qualified packaging technologist.
Sharp invested £1 million into a commercial expansion project at the Rhymney site, receiving a commercial license in January 2020. The capacity expansion included new primary and secondary packaging rooms as well as installation of blistering equipment and automated cartoners. The new integrated lines feature inline conveyor systems and automatic blister feeding to increase capacity and offer faster packaging lead times.
More recently, Sharp has made a further investment of £3 million to support medical device packaging and kitting.
Investing in these capabilities means Sharp can meet demand for commercial packaging of drug formats including cold and thermoform blisters, bottles, capsules and medical device kitting.
