Scotia Expands Production Facilities

Scotia's development plans for its plant on the Isle of Lewis in the Western Isles of Scotland are now nearing completion, and the facility will soon be ready to begin manufacture of tonnage quantities of Scotia's pharmaceutical products for use in clinical trials and first-market launches.

The plant has been renovated with a view to allowing room for expansion, and will be an important development for Scotia as it moves away from its traditional focus of natural products to the synthesis of new lipophillic drugs. The manufacture of these new agents calls for a different sort of chemistry, often involving potentially explosive reagents, than that which is generally used in pharmaceutical production plants, said David Horrobin, chief executive of Scotia.

Callanish, which cost L6 million to set up and is jointly funded by Scotia and Highlands & Islands Enterprise, will be the primary manufacturing site for Scotia's second-generation products, and should satisfy the firm's requirements "for the next three to four years," according to site general manager Chris Corden.