Drugs firm relocation jobs boost

by news.bbc.co.uk - 11/11/2009

"A pharmaceuticals firm says it is to create 54 new jobs with a relocation of its research and development work from Merseyside to Flintshire."

Quay Pharma aims to open offices and laboratories at Deeside Industrial Park in January, on a site four times the size of its current one on the Wirral.

Its manufacturing operation is due to move in the first quarter of next year.

The £2.7m move, supported by the assembly government, is to be announced by Economy Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones.

He said a "high percentage" of the new jobs would be graduate and post graduate posts in research and development.

He said: "Quay Pharma is a welcome addition to the vibrant healthcare and bioscience sector we have in Wales which employs some 15,000 people and is worth around £1.3bn annually to the Welsh economy."

'Secure future'

Quay Pharma was established in 2001 by Prof Mike Rubinstein, a former director of the School of Pharmacy and Chemistry at Liverpool John Moores University.

He said the range of support offered by the assembly government had made Wales an attractive proposition for the firm's expansion.

He said: "Our new premises will enable us to take on larger sale projects and manage contracts through to the final stage of clinical trials and we have every confidence our operation in Wales will have a long and secure future."

More Details: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8351645.stm