Eisai allocates £48M to UK cold-chain pharma packaging hub

Eisai, a Japanese pharmaceutical company, has announced an investment, supported by the UK government under the Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund (LSIMF), at its manufacturing site in Hatfield, UK, to establish supply chain and packaging capabilities for medicines that require cold-chain management. 

LSIMF is a capital grants scheme aiming to enhance life sciences manufacturing capabilities in the UK and improve supply resilience. The project is being implemented in multiple phases, with a total investment from Eisai of approximately £48 million (US$63.5 million).

Haruo Naito, CEO at Eisai, says: “This strategic investment reflects our long-term commitment to strengthening resilient supply capabilities for our innovative medicines and pipeline products, while further deepening our long-standing relationship with the UK. We value the opportunity to work with the UK government in strengthening life sciences manufacturing and healthcare resilience for the future.”

Strengthen pharmaceutical manufacturing resilience

The investment is said to align with the UK government’s policy to strengthen domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing. The Hatfield site aims to serve as a manufacturing hub serving multiple regions, including Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. 

Lord Vallance, Minister of State for Science, says: “Building world-class manufacturing capabilities here in the UK will secure the supply of vital medicines, including treatments for Alzheimer’s disease, that can transform lives. Eisai’s government-backed investment will also support the creation of new skilled jobs in Hatfield and is another example of the benefits of international companies investing in the UK — bolstering our reputation as a life sciences hub while growing our economy.”

According to Eisai, the investment will help expand the company’s manufacturing capabilities, “broadening its role beyond traditional oral solid dose operations to support the packaging and supply of temperature-controlled medicines for injection and infusion.”

Moreover, the company is set to enhance supply stability and flexibility by transitioning from reliance on external contract manufacturers to an in-house packaging model. The investment covers facilities capable of handling temperature-controlled products, including the expansion of goods receipt and dispatch functions, construction of ambient and cold-chain warehouses, along with installation of packaging buildings and packaging lines. 

In addition, the site’s advanced production flexibility, capacity for multilingual and small-batch packaging, and robust quality management systems will support Eisai’s global supply network.

In related pharmaceutical packaging manufacturing news, this month, Amcor boosted its healthcare packaging production capacity with a multi-million-dollar investment in its facility in Sira, Karnataka, India, and with a US$35 million investment to open a healthcare packaging coating facility in Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Earlier this year, Sharp, a pharmaceutical packaging company, invested over €20 million (US$21.6 million) in its European packaging facilities in response to “strong market demand” for injectables.