Sigma-Aldrich subsidiary SAFC expands Scottish site

Sigma-Aldrich Group member SAFC has outlined plans to expand its facility in Irvine, Scotland as part of a wider initiative to better serve the needs of the biopharmaceutical sector.

The company will be creating new centres of excellence in both Scotland and St Louis, Missouri, which will help to enhance its liquid cell culture reagents production capabilities with new media, feeds and purification buffers.

These upgrades will include the addition of a dedicated animal component-free area in Irvine, with all work set to be completed by the end of this year.

Gilles Cottier, SAFC’s president, explained that these improvements will make the quality of its products more consistent, thereby bringing value to its clients.

He said this will help to meet the requirements of a biopharmaceutical market which “continues to mature and place an increasing emphasis on efficiency, cost containment and increased regulatory compliance”.

Last month, Sigma-Aldrich announced that Joseph Porwoll is to become global supply chain vice-president at the end of June 2010 when the role’s current occupant David Julien retires.