Novartis Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, United Kingdom

The plant complex is located in Grimsby, West Yorkshire, UK, and was first established in 1951, forming part of a local chemicals cluster in the area. The plant was one of Ciba Geigy's main manufacturing sites before the company merged into the new Novartis group. It remains a major exporter, selling more than 90% of its output abroad. Indeed the Grimsby site has received awards for export performance as a result of its success in this regard.

Most of the Grimsby plant's active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) go to Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Novartis Pharmaceuticals has its UK base at Camberley in Surrey, although the Swiss group has its world wide base in Basle in Switzerland.

NOVARTIS PHARMACEUTICALS

Novartis states that its investment in Grimsby over recent years has amounted to £300 million ($450 million). The plant also had a major (£80 million or $120 million) project completed in 1994. Thus investment has been spread over a number of years from 1992 to 2000, mainly in small and medium sized projects, with one large project completed in 1994. Of course, this investment is directed towards the plant complex as a whole, and not just the API element.

The API element involved the erection of a multi-product plant for the manufacture of bulk pharmaceutical chemical intermediate and active ingredients. The plant contains special reaction suites including hydrogenation, a complex IBC handling system and information management systems. The plant has also had environmental alterations to improve not only the safety of the plant's workers, but also pollution levels. The chemicals industry in the area has been under severe pressure from the environmental lobby to reduce its pollution output. This pressure is already reflected in rising environmental standards.

In April 1996, Jacobs Engineering was given the contract to undertake the engineering, design and procurement, project management and construction management for the small and medium sized projects planned at the site. As in many long term agreements of this kind, both the risks and rewards of the enterprise are shared through the contract arrangements. The work was mainly handled from the Jacobs Manchester office, as well as the on-site office. Jacobs Engineering is a well known name in the process contracting industry.

There have been several smaller projects at the Grimsby site over the past few years. In 1996 Ciba (as it then was) decided to spend $35 million on expanding its production of triclosan. This doubled the company's overall production, spread over the two sites at Grimsby and Basle.

Since the company's merger, the future of some of its agribusiness at Grimsby has come into question, but this is not expected to affect the pharmaceuticals intermediates business.