Fears for jobs at ‘K block’ in Glaxo due to drugs sell-off

GLAXOSmithKline has announced significant changes to its Barnard Castle operation which while bringing huge new investment could have the potential of losing jobs. 

The plan is to pump £140million into three sites across the UK, of which Barnard Castle is one, to boost production of HIV and lupus drugs and also to possibly sell off its cephalosporins antibiotics business.

Those antibiotics are produced at the Barnard Castle plant’s K Block, as well as at sites at Ulverston, in Cumbria, and Verona, in Italy.

GSK declined to comment on how many staff in Barnard Castle could be affected.

In a statement, the pharmaceutical giant announced that up to 2020, it plans to invest new cash in its Ware, Hertfordshire, Barnard Castle, and Montrose, Scotland, sites. The investments will support

expansion of manufacturing for respiratory and HIV medicines.

However, the company said it will continue to manufacture other antibiotics such as Augmentin and will continue to conduct research on new antibiotics. GSK has also decided not to proceed with a previously planned investment to build a biopharmaceutical facility in Ulverston as it no longer needs the additional capacity.

The funds being ploughed into Barnard Castle are in addition to the £92million worth of investment announced last year to fund the construction of an aseptic sterile facility to support the manufacture of existing and new biopharmaceutical products.

The Barnard Castle facility is one of GSK’s largest secondary manufacturing sites and employs about 1,100 people. It supplies nearly half a million packs of products each day to 140 global markets.

Elsewhere, the company is looking to sell its Horlicks brand in the UK and is proposing to close the associated manufacturing site in Slough, where the UK product is made. GSK also intends to sell the MaxiNutrition brand in the UK.

The firm says it is also exploring options to divest some other smaller non-core nutrition brands.

Overall, GSK employs a about 17,000 people across the UK of which 5,000 are in UK manufacturing operations. The proposals announced for Worthing and Slough will result in a

reduction of about 320 permanent jobs over the next four years.

Roger Connor, president of global manufacturing and supply, said: “We have a substantial manufacturing presence in the UK and continue to support the network with new investment of more than £140million in the next three years.

“At the same time, we have had to make some decisions which we know will cause uncertainty for some of our employees. We will do all we can to support them through this process.”

Philip Thomson, president of global affairs, added: “We are continuing to invest in science and our core businesses in the UK and we continue to see the UK as an attractive place for the life sciences industry.

“We are working constructively with the Government and others to develop an ambitious plan for the sector as part of the UK’s new industrial strategy.”

The company said none of the announcements made by the company have resulted from the UK’s decision to leave the EU.