UK-based Porton Biopharma has opened a new multi-million dollar pharmaceutical manufacturing facility to increase the capacity of its existing production center used for making the cancer drug Erwinase, a drug that is mostly used to treat childhood leukaemia. Based at Porton Down in Wiltshire, UK, the company was commercialized out of Public Health England (PHE) in April 2015.

In addition to Erwinase, Anthrax Vaccine was developed at the Porton Down site as well as other products including Dysport and Voraxase, which have subsequently been out-licensed to other companies.

The site was previously operated by the Health Protection Agency (HPA), which dissolved in 2013 and its functions transferred to PHE, an executive agency of the UK Department of Health. Following this the company says a strategic review concluded that a separate corporate structure would be most appropriate to support the strategic objectives of its pharmaceutical development and manufacturing operations.

As a result, Porton Biopharma was formed, and became operational in April 2015. The company has approximately 250 staff and is co-located with PHE on the same campus.