Eli Lilly UK plant closure ‘under review’

Eli Lilly, the American drug manufacturer, may sell its Basingstoke manufacturing facility, possibly resulting in 300 redundancies. Presently, the company is carrying out an appraisal of the site, although no decision has yet been reached.

If the manufacturing facility does close, Lilly will still retain its UK headquarters in Basingstoke, while its Windlesham research and development facilities in Surrey will remain unaffected, according to trade magazine, PharmaFocus.

Although the Windlesham facilities are receiving a sustained investment to fund improvements and expansions, the manufacturing cutbacks in Basingstoke are part of a recent drive to reduce the company’s costs.

Andrew Hotchkiss, managing director of Lilly UK, told the Gazette: “We see the site being decommissioned and eventually sold, but we have got a lot of work to do before we come to any final conclusions with that.”

He said that if the site does close, it would take some 18 months to make the preparations and that it would protect its “iconic” white building in the area.

Mr Hotchkiss told PharmaFocus: “Lilly has a clear strategy, a strong medicines portfolio and pipeline, and no major patent expiries until after the end of this decade.”

“However, as the environment for the pharmaceutical industry becomes more challenging, we must take difficult business decisions to allow us to realise our vision and long-term growth potential,” he added.

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