How an investment in a disused manufacturing site has brought renewed growth and sustainability to the UK and the region

Tony Cordrey, European VP for Strategic Operations, talks about how Accord’s investment in a manufacturing site in Newcastle has brought renewed growth, sustainability, and excellence to manufacturing in the UK and to the region.

1. Can you remind us about the decision to invest in and renovate the Fawdon site?

For us it is crucial to be close to the market and our customers – we are always seeking to think differently to improve our products and patients’ access to them. We had outgrown our site in Cambridge and its success meant we needed a bigger site that would allow us to go beyond our current technology systems.  Fawdon has allowed us to produce new and differentiated products and at the same time increase our capacity through additional production lines.

We saw the opportunity of bringing a closed manufacturing operation back to life which had previously enjoyed many years of successful production. However, significant investments had to be made to ensure the site met the quality standards that we expected and that of current Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP).

We continue to plan for the future and Fawdon gives us the ability to invest beyond tablets into more complex manufacturing operations and technologies that will allow us to provide patients with accessible medicines in oncology and other critical disease areas.

2. How does Fawdon play a role in ensuring a consistent supply of medicines for pharmacists?

A combination of our inward investments and being close to our customers in Europe has meant we can be more flexible in responding to our customer demands, reducing lead-times from many months to weeks – in many cases two to three times faster.

However, it is not just speed that plays an important role in meeting the needs of pharmacists in terms of getting a product onto their shelves and therefore available for patients. Technology continually advances and we utilise this as much as possible to improve the safety and quality of medicines using various cameras, robotics and electronic batch documentation.  Such technologies enhance data integrity whilst improving productivity, all of which is to ensure that we continue to meet the high standards that our customers and patients expect.

In these challenging times, these combined capabilities, along with our site in Barnstaple, put us in a strong position to ensure we have a sustainable, reliable supply of high-quality medicines.

3. There were ambitious plans for Fawdon in terms of growth, sustainability and excellence – have these been realised?

We continue to go from strength to strength. Last year our effervescence production was put into full operation supplying medicines to the UK and Europe. Our robust operations in this space have allowed us to respond rapidly to market shortages and launch our own brand effervescent paracetamol.

We made a promise that we would work closely with the local community and have a positive impact on the surrounding area and in addition to using 100 per cent renewable electricity and sending zero waste to landfill; we are actively engaged with the community by working with schools, universities and businesses. These initiatives allow us to share our passion and knowledge, whilst fostering important relationships for the future.

4. How does the Fawdon site contribute to Accord‘s Added-Value Products (AVP)?

Fawdon will play a key role in our Added Value Products, helping to increase the supply and maintain levels which are directly manufactured and packed in the UK for onward distribution throughout EMENA. AVPs are an important new area as they allow us to develop products that enhance the patient experience bringing better outcomes and value. Our pride in our manufacturing success is driven by our dedication to improve patient access to medicines that have the potential to change lives.

We have already started production of a speciality brand in the area of rheumatoid arthritis and our sterile manufacturing facilities will be enabling us to explore more products in specialist disease areas.

5. What do you hope to achieve over the next 12 months?

We have a number of projects underway at Fawdon to support the continuing efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, including a deal to secure a long-term domestic supply of a medicine being investigated for its uses.

In April 2020, an extended list of medicines that could not be parallel exported from the UK was announced, however the surge for certain medicines deemed essential during the pandemic had already been anticipated by Accord when COVID-19 first emerged. In anticipation Accord had increased its production by 100 million extra doses of those vital medicines in a month, employing over 100 extra staff to help achieve this. Supplies of a wide range of critical medicines which were in short supply were delivered to UK hospitals to help meet this urgent need.

Over the years, the pharmaceutical industry has witnessed a great deal of change. It is very humbling to be able to reflect on how far Accord has come in such a short period of time and the amount of potential we have yet to unlock in the UK in our people, products and facilities. For us this is an important time for UK manufacturing.