Bio boost for AMEC
12 Mar 2003
AMEC has been awarded the contract to provide engineering services to the new National Biomanufacturing Centre in Liverpool.
Planned to provide specialised services for small and medium bioscience firms, the NBC is part of the North West Development Agency's strategy to attract high-tech firms to the region.
Costing some £30million, the NBC will carry out the initial manufacture of biopharmaceuticals - drugs based around large biologically-derived molecules - for early-stage production, supplying material for clinical trials and initial launches. The centre will occupy some 3500m2 of space and employ around 80 people.
AMEC's role brings it in to the earliest stages of the project. The company will design all aspects of the heart of the centre, the process development and the GMP (good manufacturing practice) suites, specifying and selecting equipment and designing the control and operations systems.
The team, comprising process and mechanical engineers, biopharmaceuticals specialists and control system engineers, will also be part of the team designing the overall layout of the building and how the space will be managed.
