Accord Healthcare unlocks £50m government fund to boost medicines manufacturing in the North-East

• Accord welcomes a joint £50 million deal with the government to invest in the manufacture and production of its high-quality medicines at its plant in Fawdon, Newcastle upon Tyne.
• The investment will create over 50 new skilled jobs and safeguard the facility's long-term future.
• Accord is one of the UK's largest providers of medicines to patients; it supplies around 10% of the volume of all medicines to the NHS in the UK. Equating to 7 packs per second, 24 hours a day 365 days a year.
• 75% of those medicines are manufactured here at our United Kingdom sites.

NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, England, Nov. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Accord Healthcare hosted the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, who launched a new Life Sciences Innovative Manufacturing Fund (LSIMF), whilst announcing the unlocking of a joint £50 million investment deal to boost manufacture and production of Accord's high-quality medicines at its plant in Fawdon alongside Peter Kyle, Secretary of State, Department of Science, Innovation and Technology.

Accord has already invested almost £1 billion into the UK in the past 10 years. This joint deal allows the company to invest £50m in new product lines for a novel cancer drug and two autoimmune injectables and the expansion of our medicines for adjunctive therapy in cancer.

Accord is one of the UK's largest providers of medicines to patients and is proud to supply around 10% of the volume of all medicines to the NHS in the UK, around 200m packs a year, 75% of which are made in the UK. This new deal will enable Accord to be even more competitive with other countries in terms of manufacturing, thus helping to safeguard UK medicines supply during any future global public healthcare emergencies.

Welcoming the announcement from Fawdon today, Paul Tredwell, Executive Vice President of Accord Healthcare EMENA said: "Accord is delighted to have worked with the government to unlock this £50 million investment to continue supplying high-quality medicines to the NHS. Today's announcement is positive news for the medicines manufacturing industry across the UK and signals that government is squarely behind this business sector.

"For Accord, it has meant that we have been able to confidently invest in our production facility in Fawdon, Newcastle upon Tyne, where we have been able to significantly increase production of a range of innovative essential medicines for patients across the UK and Europe. This Government investment has allowed us to invest further in our people allowing us to grow our presence in the UK, whilst simultaneously playing a significant part in reducing medicine shortages in the UK and shoring-up our ability to respond well in future public health emergencies."

About Accord Healthcare

• Headquartered in the United Kingdom (UK), Accord Healthcare, Ltd. is one of the fastest growing pharmaceutical companies in Europe. 
• Accord has over 40 oncology and oncology-related treatments making it one of the largest suppliers of chemotherapy products in Europe with an additional 20 treatments which are currently in development and scheduled for launch over the next 5 years. 
• Accord supplies approximately 30% volume share of major chemotherapy treatments across Europe and the UK
• Our approach is agile and inventive, always seeking to improve our products and patients' access to them. We're driven to think differently and deliver more for the benefit of patients worldwide. 
• Accord is one of the UK's largest providers of medicines to patients and are proud to supply around 10% of the volume of all medicines to the NHS in the UK.
• That's over 17 million packs per month, over half a million packs per day, 24 thousand packs per hour, 393 packs per minute, 7 per second
• Accord is passionate about access to medicine, we provide these essential generic medicines for an average price of around £1 a month, which is often less than a bottle of water.
• Accord has invested around £1 billion in the UK in the past 10 years. This recent funding allows us to be competitive with other countries in terms of manufacturing, and with this we will be investing approximately £50m in new product lines for; a novel prostate cancer drug, 2 autoimmune injectables, treating rheumatoid arthritis and gastroenterology indications, and the expansion of our oncology provision supporting UK patients.
• Our intention isn't to stop there. If our future partnership with the government on this latest funding announcement is successful, we will continue to invest in our sites not only here in Fawdon but in Barnstaple as well. We are incredibly proud of our site there, our people, and the legacy we have in the location since 1979.
• Of the medicines supplied to the NHS by Accord, around 75% are manufactured at our two UK sites in Fawdon and in Barnstaple in the southwest of England. Combined, the sites make over 5.5 billion tablets and capsules every year.
• Prescriptions written by healthcare professionals or dispensed by pharmacists for Accord products, supports jobs and manufacturing in the UK. We thank the NHS, healthcare professionals and government for their continued partnerships and trust.
• Accord's continued expansion will support the company, not only in the UK, but also across Europe where Accord provides around 30% of all generic chemotherapy injectables and are leaders in an adjunctive therapy area for cancer. With this investment in Fawdon, we are also pleased to announce that we will be exporting from this site to the US and Canada and would hope to expand this in future years with future investment.
• Accord is also pleased to support patients with innovative treatments and intend to launch two new novel cancer drugs to support patients in this debilitating disease. These new options will support patients through their cancer journey. Not only will one be made here in Fawdon, but plans are being put in place to manufacture the second novel treatment, a tablet, at our site in Barnstaple, something the new manufacturing fund could facilitate.
• We are also pleased to announce a up to £20m investment in our new EMENA head office in London, which will open in March next year. This building will also house over 20,000ft of R&D alongside up to 200 people from our medical and commercial teams, bringing development, medical and commercial together to develop new products to make it better for patients.
• We are committed to investing in STEM roles and support through our people, training opportunities and growing our R&D capability through ongoing investment in our labs and latest technology which is one of the reasons we are so keen to partner with the Government.