Pharmaceutical services multinational expands UK base

We have seen a significant increase in our employee numbers this year, and as we approach 2007 it shows no sign of slowing down.

Sue Bill
European Head of Human Resources
Almac Group

By David Brem, OurWorld Editor

In a bid to minimise the expenses, time and risk involved in R&D, the European drug discovery outsourcing market is forecast to expand from US$3.2 billion in 2004 to 5.1 billion by 2011.

But it’s not all one-way traffic.

Despite European firms outsourcing to developing economies for generics, there’s still high demand for specialised services here.

Almac Group experiences global growth

The Almac Group recruited over 250 employees at it’s Northern Ireland-based headquarters in 2006.

It’s the highest number of new employees to be recruited in a single year since the company was founded in 2002.

The pharmaceutical services firm now employs almost 2000 people in the UK, US and Ireland.

Vindication of company re-structure?

Since its establishment in 2001 Almac has grown rapidly into a £290million company offering a full range of pharmaceutical services to pharma, biotech and virtual organisations.

Earlier this year, Almac consolidated the various services offered by the company, including drug discovery, R&D, patient diagnostics and clinical trials for new drugs.

Noting the significance of the headquarters’ growth, Almac Chairman Sir Allen McClay said: “The steady increase in our employee numbers shows that Almac has gone from strength to strength over the past year."

UK talent = international talent

The new staff members are employed across the five divisions of Almac.

Most of the new recruits are graduates, including 15 from Northern Ireland, and they represent a mix of local people and those who come from overseas.

"Our people are delivering leading edge pharmaceutical developments and we have strategic alliances forged with a majority of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies,” said Sue Bill, Almac’s European Head of Human Resources.

"We have seen a significant increase in our employee numbers this year, and as we approach 2007 it shows no sign of slowing down."