Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Cluster Report

Advance Northumberland, the economic regeneration arm of Northumberland County Council, has welcomed a new report highlighting the strength of the regional pharmaceutical cluster sector.

Of particular note is, the contribution of Northumberland based business such as Organon, Pharmaron UK, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Piramal and Quotient Sciences amongst others, coming together in positioning the region as a leading investment destination for the pharma sector.

The report by North East Pharma Ltd, highlights the significant growth since 2017, pointing to a bright future for the sector, which now employs more than 5,600 people within the region. This number has grown by 51% over the last six years and continues to grow, with employers in the cluster expecting to recruit a significant number of additional jobs to its current manufacturing and research workforce.

Steven Harrison, Chief Executive Officer at Advance Northumberland said; “We welcome this report

highlighting the economic importance of pharmaceutical manufacturing to the North East of England and Northumberland in particular.

“The report displays and positions our region as a leading investment destination for the pharma manufacturing sector, which has invested over £850m in capital assets since 2017. I believe that Northumberland can continue to support the sector growth through several key sites such as Ashwood Business Park and West Hartford Business Park which provide the investment platform and allow the continued growth of this key sector here in Northumberland.”

Michael Whitaker, Director at North East Pharma Ltd said; “The importance of the cluster to the region and wider UK Plc in terms of economic impact and enhancing our standing as an innovation superpower is exceptional. The Cluster companies included in this report contribute at a minimum £1.52 billion to the UK’s Gross Value Added (GVA), whilst the GVA per worker is over £200,000, well above the average of £48,000 for the region, and the growth in GVA of the regional pharmaceutical sector companies from 2016 to 2021 is the highest in the UK outside London at 89%”.

“Overall, the pharmaceutical sector GVA for the North East is 17.9% of the total manufacturing GVA for the region and 2.7% of the region’s total GVA; this is a higher proportion than for any other UK region.

We also see significant spin off benefits though the Cluster’s value chain contribution which is typically 30-fold, rising to 50-fold for products aimed at less-prevalent diseases in high value markets, with pharmaceutical manufacturing sites in the sector export an average of 80% of their products with 39% of exports going to the United States”.

County Councillor Richard Wearmouth, Cabinet Member for Supporting Business and Opportunities at Northumberland County Council, said: "These are excellent figures and support what we already know - the county continues to be the place to locate and expand businesses big and small.

"We're seeing multi-billion-pound investment coming into Northumberland and news that the pharma cluster is seeking to bring significant numbers of new jobs in addition to the existing workforce is very welcome."

Full details of the report and further information on North East Pharma – the voice for the North East Pharma cluster can be found here: (https://northeastpharma.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/NE_Pharma_Profile_NE_Report_March_2023.pdf ). To find out more about investing into Northumberland and the strategic sites and premises available, please visit www.investnorthumberland.co.uk contact invest@advancenorthumberland.co.uk or call 01670 719917