GSK expansion will 'future proof' Barnard Castle factory

GlaxoSmithKline’s multi-million pound site expansion will “future-proof” the Barnard Castle factory if it is given the go ahead.
An announcement was made earlier this year about plans to introduce a new aseptic manufacturing facility at the GSK site, on Harmire Road. A planning application was submitted to Durham County Council last month. Residents were welcomed to a public consultation last week to find out more about the new facility.
GSK public relations manager Paul Stinson said: “The new facility will help to secure the future of sterile manufacturing here for 25 years or more.”
GSK in Barnard Castle manufactures and supplies aseptic liquid filled syringes and vials which are used by hospitals to treat diseases such as cancer and HIV.
The current sterile facility was built in 1995. According to the design and access statement by Morgan Sindall Professional Services, the vials suites and original syringe suite are “still currently acceptable”.
However, “they are approaching the end of their serviceable life for aseptic manufacturing operations”.
To provide a secure source of supply for new biopharmaceutical and chemical drug products which are currently in the pipeline and need aseptic processing, new facilities are required.
Engineering and IT director Nigel Wood is overseeing the construction of the new facility.
He said: “It is a safehouse facility where we can manufacture products coming through the pipeline. It is going to bring security.
“We are always increasing standards required for sterile medicine manufacturing. For the last 20 years we have done incremental improvements but we have now reached a point where we can’t improve any more.
“The technology that will be put into the new building will be the most advanced in the industry. That is key to running this facility.”
The new P-block will be built on the former site of the A and B blocks, which were the first manufacturing and packing suites on the site in the 1940s. Demolished more than 20 years ago, this was where penicillin and Vitamin B12 was manufactured.
The new building would include production, storage, support and office accommodation. GSK believes it is “unlikely” that extra staff would be sought to work within the facility, which would be up and running from 2020.
There will be sufficient space for two aseptic processing modules and permanent cold storage facilities but only one of the modules will be fitted out.
The flexible design of the building will allow for expansion.
Adaptable internal layouts would mean that a third module could also be created to the east of module two.
Through a service tunnel, the new facility would be connected to the existing sterile packaging facilities contained within C-block which is currently being updated.
Architect Robert Warren said: “It will be a new filling station which can progressively be extended. This is future-proofing the facility.
“The building will look contemporary and state-of-the-art. It had to be something that was fit for the 21st century, not the 20th century. Although it is a manufacturing facility and industrial in that matter, the intention was to make it look like a complete modern and up-to-the-mark facility.
“The big feature is the amount of natural light that we can get in there. We need to have visibility within the facility so that it helps with the environment for the production staff.”
If given the go-ahead, work will begin in June 2017.
Mr Stinson added: “We are the centre of excellence for sterile liquid filling and packing.
“Everyone has said this will be great for Barnard Castle. Feedback has been positive.”
The expansion in Teesdale is part of a wider investment by GSK of £275million which will benefit sites in Barnard Castle, Montrose in Scotland and Ware in Hertfordshire.
Barnard Castle is one of the drug giant’s biggest secondary manufacturing sites, employing 1,400 people.
The site also supplies nearly half a million packs of products a day to 140 global markets.