Torbay Pharma opens plant with sterile injectables capacity in UK
The firm, which is part of the Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, said the facility will make a range of pharmaceutical products for NHS hospitals in the UK and “healthcare organisations” across the world.
A spokeswoman told us the facility produces terminally sterilised injectable products and is approved by the MHRA.
The 78,000 square foot facility consolidates Torbay’s manufacturing operations, which were previously based at four separate sites in the region. Construction of the plant was initiated in 2013.
The facility houses automated production lines, two autoclaves for sterilization and the ability to produce larger batch sizes. The site also has capacity for on-site storage and distribution.
Injectable drug capacity
Global sterile drug contracting capacity was reduced by the closure of US contractor Ben Venue, which shut down for good in October 2013 after years of problems at its manufacturing facility in Bedford, Ohio.
In the UK sterile injectables capacity has also fallen.
In 2014 Aesica pulled out of sterile injectables production. A few months after SCM Pharma lost its manufacturing license due to GMP violations at its site in Prudhoe.
Prior to that Moorfields Pharmaceuticals – a division of Moorfields Eye Hospital - was deemed to have breached GMP guidelines by the MHRA, which reduced UK capacity for ocular injectables.
