George Freeman MP, Minister for Life Sciences, opened a new mutli-million pound pharmaceutical manufacturing facility at Porton Biopharma Limited (PBL) on Monday 1st February.
He was accompanied by John Glen, MP for Salisbury, along with Richard Walters, Alistair Cunningham and Baroness Jane Scott from Wiltshire Council.
The group heard about the investment that Porton Biopharma has made since its formation and the exciting plans it has to grow its business. The new facility will increase the capacity of the existing pharmaceutical production centre used for the production of the essential life-saving cancer drug Erwinase®, which saves the lives’ of thousands of children every year.
George Freeman commented “This impressive new facility on the Porton Campus has the potential to make a significant contribution to the local economy and to UK life sciences - a sector which has seen £6 billion of investment and created 17,000 jobs since 2011. Not only will it help to drive the innovation and growth of the future, it will also produce life-enhancing treatments for the benefit of NHS patients.”
Dr Roger Hinton Managing Director of PBL responded that “I am delighted that the minister with our local MP John Glen, have been so supportive in helping PBL to seek to grow the business which is essential in enabling us to produce greater quantities of life-saving products and to support jobs in the local community.”
John Glen MP commented that “PBL will play an essential future role in the regional economy and to help generate prosperity within Salisbury, along with other local initiatives such as the Porton Science Park.”
1. Porton Biopharma Limited (PBL) is the sole licensed manufacturer of Erwinase® which is indicated for the treatment of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL), the most common form of cancer in children.
2. Leukaemia is a type of cancer that affects the white blood cells (lymphocytes) that help fight infection. In ALL the bone marrow makes too many lymphocytes which are not fully developed and are not able to work normally. ALL is treated using a range of chemotherapy drugs, which can include asparginase enzymes that prevent the lymphocytes from surviving and reproducing.
3. Erwinase® is an asparaginase enzyme derived from Erwinia chrysanthemi which is used in patients who have had an allergic reaction to asparaginase enzymes from other sources. Erwinase® has been registered in 22 countries and commercialised in more than 60 countries world-wide, including approval in the US by the FDA in November 2011 (as Erwinaze®).
4. PBL is registered in England and Wales under company number 9331560. It spun out of PHE in 2015 to enable it to be better placed to develop the business https://www.gov.uk/government/news/phe-drug-development-to-transfer-to-new-state-owned-company. It is wholly owned by the Secretary of State of Health and its profits are returned to Public Health England for the benefit of the public’s health
