海角直播

Groundbreaking training methods to speed up manufacture of life-saving medicines

Staff at a pioneering biopharmaceutical company will be given a head start in their training to manufacture life-saving and life-enhancing medicines and vaccines.

Lakes BioScience has teamed up with the National Horizons Centre (NHC) - 海角直播鈥檚 拢22.3m centre of excellence for the biosciences and the healthcare sector - to train its staff using technology similar to the machines which will be installed in its planned state-of-the-art 拢350m base in Ulverston, Cumbria. The NHC, based in Darlington, will soon be equipped with equivalent machinery which will be placed in Lakes BioScience鈥檚 proposed 10,000-square-metre plant, and staff from Lakes BioScience will visit the education centre to get hands-on practical experience of using the complex systems to ensure the future workforce is trained in manufacturing world first pharmaceuticals at the earliest opportunity.

Included in the training is revolutionary virtual reality technology which can realistically simulate the complex operations of the bioproduction plant

NHC Director Jen Vanderhoven said: 鈥淭his partnership is about developing a new workforce and getting the Lakes BioScience team which needs to operate this new equipment trained appropriately so they are ready to roll when the factory opens.

鈥淲e have the same equipment they will be using so it鈥檚 an opportunity for employees to train even before their machines arrive.

鈥淲hat the Covid-19 pandemic has shown us is that we really need a skilled workforce to manufacture these life-saving medicines and vaccines. You can build as many buildings as you want and put all the fancy equipment in, but that won鈥檛 make any difference unless you have people who can work it in a safe and efficient manner.

鈥淭hrough this training, their staff will be trained in a very short time frame. The UK quickly patented vaccines for Covid-19 in 300days but we need to bring that down to under 100 days to help keep people safe and well.鈥�

Working in collaboration with Lakes BioScience and global life sciences leader Cytiva, NHC is helping to develop world first treatments to be used across the globe.

Dr Vanderhoven said: 鈥淲e are at the forefront of training those people manufacturing these life-changing pharmaceuticals and doing a lot of research to drive down the cost of treatments.

鈥淚t鈥檚 about manufacturing life-saving vaccines and medicines faster and making them more affordable.鈥�

The advanced training methods will ensure the North of England is a hotbed for bioscience technology, and will boost the UK鈥檚 biopharmaceutical production.

Lakes BioScience aims to support the needs of a growing biopharmaceutical manufacturing industry, and develop pioneering treatments.

Pat McIver, a director at Lakes BioScience, said: 鈥淚t is the intention of Lakes BioScience to significantly invest in providing high quality training experiences to our workforce so that they can be confident and assured about the highly technical equipment they are going to be working with.

鈥淲e believe that by working with NHC and other companies within the sector we can grow and develop the high capabilities of the industry that exist within the North of England, and the UK.

鈥淭he UK has the intellectual fire power and the science excellence and leadership in research and engineering, but has slipped behind other countries when it comes to manufacturing. We need to grow the industry to realise the UK ambition to be a powerhouse for the bioscience economy.

鈥淭his is an exciting opportunity for the North of England to lead the way in biopharmaceutical manufacturing, and pave the way for the UK to showcase its capabilities to the rest of the world.鈥�