Drug capsule manufacturing returns to Swindon

The manufacturing of drug capsules for clinical trials has returned to Swindon for the first time in eight years, following an investment by pharmaceutical and health product specialist group Wasdell.

The group has invested in specialist machinery that can manufacture capsules for drugs being used by the pharmaceutical industry in small-batch clinical trials.

One of Wasdell’s first Swindon contracts was packing capsules for a locally-based pharmaceutical firm. However, that firm was taken over by an international company, and manufacturing of the capsules ceased in Swindon in 2012.

Wasdell chairman Martin Tedham, who bought Wasdell in 2010 and moved it to Swindon, said: “Supporting all-important small-batch clinical trials is one of our specialisms, and lately we have been inundated with requests from hospitals and medical professionals to manufacture these capsules.

“As one of the few UK life science partners to hold an Investigational Medicinal Products Licence – that is, licence to manufacture and pack drugs for clinical trials – we feel this investment is important and worthwhile.

“From a personal point of view, it’s also very gratifying to know that Wasdell has brought back the manufacture of pharmaceutical capsules to Swindon.”

The project is being run by senior quality specialist Callum Wilson, who said: “This new machinery is perfect for manufacturing the small batches that are used in clinical trials.

“We are already manufacturing blinded actives, placebos and comparators. Actives are the drugs which are being evaluated by doctors or scientists, comparators are drugs that are already being used to treat medical conditions, and placebos contain no drug product at all.”

“The drugs are sent directly by Wasdell to hospitals and clinics across the UK and EU. Wasdell can trace which drug is in which pack, and in the case of a double-blinded trial, in order to protect trial integrity, it is essential that neither the doctors nor their patients are aware of whether they are taking a drug being trialled or not.”

Since 2010, annual turnover at Wasdell has increased from £2 million to £42.7 million in 2019. Wasdell Group is now the largest independent hi-tech pharmaceutical and healthcare manufacturing and research partner in Europe.