SGS celebrated the official opening of the Biologics, Viral Vaccine, Gene and Cell Therapy Testing facility expansion in Glasgow, UK earlier this month. The newly extended state-of-the-art facility now doubles the total floor space from 1,200 square meters to 2,400 square meters.
 
The greater laboratory space provides SGS with additional capabilities for testing cell banks and routine bulk harvest for vaccines, gene and cell therapies, monoclonal antibodies and other recombinant protein based biological medicines, and will increase the capacity of all existing biosafety services and enhanced real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) platforms.
 
“Innovative and ambitious companies like SGS Vitrology are vital to the Scottish economy. This Scottish Enterprise grant of £1.7 million, as a contribution towards the company’s £7.6 million investment, will help create high-value jobs in Glasgow and help support the company realize their ambitious growth plans in Scotland,” said Ivan McKee, Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation for the Scottish Government.
 
He continued, “Scotland is the UK’s leading destination for foreign direct investments outside of London, and the best in the UK for attracting high value R&D projects. The Scottish Government has set an ambitious target to double Business Expenditure Research and Development to £1.75 billion by 2025 and have boosted existing R&D grant funding by £45 million between 2018 and 2021—an increase of almost 70%.
 
“The Scottish Government and our skills and enterprise agencies look forward to working with SGS Vitrology to deliver their ambitious plans for their Glasgow operation.”
 
Archie Lovatt, scientific director, SGS, said, “Large molecule biologics, vaccines, gene and cell therapies are a rapidly expanding field within the pharmaceutical industry. Our investment ensures we will remain at the forefront of this growth by delivering the highly specialized testing expertise necessary to establish and ensure the safety of novel human therapies and vaccines.”