Scotland in the running to secure landmark £25m biotech factory

SCOTLAND is in the running to secure a £25 million manufacturing facility for US biotech giant Life Technologies, which experts say could help to anchor the country as a centre for the new field of “personalised medicine”.

Chief executive Greg Lucier told Scotland on Sunday that he is also considering sites in Asia and the United States as the base for the new factory.

Lucier expects Nasdaq-listed Life Technologies – which already employs about 550 staff at its European headquarters in Inchinan – to reach a decision before the end of the year.

Lucier said: “Our operation in Scotland has become the central base for our work in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and is already an important manufacturing site for our company. We’ve invested $45m in the site over the past several years and it is an important part of our company’s operations.”

Life Technologies makes a range of chemical ingredients used by drug developers and other science-based companies, as well as manufacturing laboratory equipment.

Lucier would not be drawn on what products would be made in the new facility or on the number of jobs that could be created.

In June, a consortium that includes Life Technologies received a £6m grant from the UK government’s Technology Strategy Board to develop techniques for examining tumours, so cancer specialists can tailor treatment for specific patients. This move into so-called “personalised medicine” involves examining a patient’s genes and other unique features and then developing appropriate remedies.

Lucier added: “This is one of the most exciting times to be working in life sciences. Pharmaceutical companies are moving away from chemical-based treatments to biological-based therapies. At the same time, the austerity measures being introduced by governments mean that healthcare spending is being squeezed, creating challenges and opportunities for companies like us.”

Life Technologies – which has about 11,000 staff in 160 countries and turned over about £3.6bn last year – was created in 2008 through the merger of Invitrogen and Applied Biosystems.

Graeme Boyle, director of Nexxus, the Scottish life sciences networking body, said: “Our members would strongly support locating this significant investment in Scotland.

“It would build upon the considerable strengths of the Life workforce based at Inchinnan. It would anchor Scotland in the rapidly-developing fields of personalised medicine and medical diagnostics.”