The state-of-the-art laboratory will allow Tepnel to consolidate its existing pharmaceutical services business into a single location, with its primary function being the analysis of therapeutic proteins, including recombinant and affinity purified proteins for use as therapeutic agents and vaccines.
The company also plans to expand its pharmacogenomics capabilities to include high throughput genotyping and other genomic analysis techniques.
Clinical trial and analytical services outsourcing has proved to be a popular industry in recent years, thanks to the growing pressure on drugmakers to bring products to market as quickly as possible.
Ben Matzilevich, Tepnel’s CEO, said, “this is an important milestone in our long-term strategy to provide the most competitive platform for our existing pharmaceutical analysis services. It will also allow us to continue the successful development of some of our most specialized products and services in high growth areas such as pharmacogenomics and new generations of vaccines.”
Tepnel received support for the project, which is expected to create an additional 20 jobs in the region, from Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian, part of economic development agency Scottish Enterprise.