It seemed an appropriate time to make some changes to our newsletter as so many other things at Eden are changing at the moment! We have just left our Ellesmere Port offices and relocated to the National Biomanufacturing Centre and we have also changed our management team by bringing in Dave Carrick as Operations Director. Perhaps the biggest change of all will come as a result of our current recruitment drive for 10 new people – almost doubling Eden in size.

Jack Welch, the Former Chairman and CEO of General Electric once said: “Willingness to change is a strength, even if it means plunging part of the company into total confusion for a while.” So I’m pleased we have at least one great strength (as we certainly have the confusion).


Confidence soars with new injection of funds in European pharmaceutical sector
Concerns over drugs companies shifting their activities elsewhere were allayed in January with the announcement that two of the world’s leading companies will be investing millions to create more than 800 jobs in Europe.

Britain’s reputation as a centre for pharmaceutical and biotechnology research and development was reinforced as Amgen, the largest biotech company in the world announced a £100m investment in Uxbridge and Cambridge in the UK over the next decade as well as injecting over $1bn (£562m) in investment in County Cork in the Irish Republic, creating 1,100 jobs by 2010, in a move which further strengthens its presence in Europe.

Japan’s fourth largest drugs group, Eisai has announced an investment of £75m to set up European headquarters in Hatfield, UK. The building is set to open in 2008 and will see the creation of over 500 new jobs in discovery research, manufacturing, marketing and clinical development.

Overseas developments
Scientists in the US believe they have developed a revolutionary flu vaccine which has been shown to protect mice against avian flu. If the effectiveness is confirmed in human trials, reports The Lancet on-line, it could transform the world’s chances of preventing a pandemic. Scientists expect it to prove effective against all strains of H5 flu, currently attacking poultry in the East, and could therefore be stockpiled in advance of a pandemic. Instead of mobilising antibodies against flu, as conventional vaccines do, it works principally by generating killer T cells that clear the virus.



Dr Crawford Brown, Chief Executive and Derek Ellison, Business Development Director at Eden Biodesign commented on the BioIndustry Association’s annual gala dinner which took place on Jan 26th:
“The BIA dinner is always impressive and this year’s event, hosted in the stunning Natural History museum, was no exception. The venue is impressive and best described as a cross between the Hogwarts dining room and an Anglican cathedral – with the added bonus of a 60 foot long dinosaur skeleton down the centre of the room! The food and wine was fine but it’s the remarkable guest list which sees people clambering for tickets every year. Key representatives from the City, Government, press and industry mingle and combine to raise the profile of biotech, honour achievements and of course network like mad!”

bioProcessUK Annual Forum 2005
The bioProcessUK Annual Forum in December 2005 was received exceptionally well by the bioprocessing community. The forum drew more than 160 delegates, a 20% increase on last year’s attendance, with many more attendees from bioprocessing development, contract manufacture and academia highlighting the growing strength of the bioprocessing community. 50 delegates finished the conference with a tour of the newly constructed National Biomanufacturing Centre in nearby Speke.



Picture taken at bioProcessUK Forum. Poster prize winners from left to right: Heidi Salte, University College London, Simon Hanslip, Cambridge University and Katherine Weir, Newcastle University. All three prize winners won tickets to the BIA Annual Gala Dinner last month.


Designing for Flexibility
How would you design a biopharmaceutical facility which is capable of the development and early clinical manufacture of 95% of the products and processes coming through the biopharmaceutical pipeline in the next 5–10 years? This was what Eden set out to achieve when it was selected to operate the UK National Biomanufacturing Centre (NBC), writes Angela Osborne, Facility Design Consultant to Eden Biodesign. The NBC is a government funded initiative set to become Europe’s leading biopharmaceutical design centre, capable of developing a wide variety of novel biopharmaceutical medicines from proof of concept through to GMP manufacture for clinical trials.
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Identifying Equipment Specifications
A desire to build on the Biomanufacturing expertise already present in North West England and the requirement to support UK biotechnology sector growth as a whole has led the Northwest Development Agency to sponsor the establishment of a UK National Biomanufacturing Centre (NBC) in Liverpool, writes Simon Routledge, Clinical Trials Production Manager. The NBC is due to open in Q1 of 2006 and, in a unique public – private partnership, will be operated by Eden Biodesign. This article will give an overview of the basis of design for the cGMP function of the NBC; it will summarise the types of process equipment purchased, the methodology used to source the equipment and provide examples of some of the specific requirements used to identify the most appropriate systems for purchase.
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We recently produced a bound booklet of reprints of the articles we published from our experiences of designing and validating the NBC. Contact Sian if you would like a copy posted.