1M&A PHARMACHEM | 1

MANUFACTURING EDITION

Mr. Gerard Michael Pessagno, Managing Director M&A Pharmachem Limited

Cremer filling line

For more than 40 years, M&A Pharmachem Ltd has been a successful British company based in Westhoughton, in Bolton. It was established by the late Frank Armstrong

and is now managed through a family trust. It consists of two companies, the parent company M&A Pharmachem and its sister company CD Medical Ltd. The philosophy of the whole group is to offer top quality pharmaceuticals and medical devices for medical staff to prescribe and use across the healthcare sector. We demonstrate a flexible approach to the market, delivering new products and quantities to the market as the demand arises.

Lancastrian Pharmaceuticals

M&A Pharmachem Ltd has been concentrating on manufacturing off-patent pain

relieving pharmaceuticals in the North West of England for four decades. With a

turnover of £12 million and a staff of 150, we offer quality products in tablet and

caplet (capsule shaped tablets) form. These include the recognisable Paracetamol,

Aspirin, Co-codamol, Co-Dydramol and Dihydrocodeine analgesics. Other generic drugs

such as Gabapentin, Folic Acid and Furosemide form part of the manufactured portfolio.

Our client list boasts the English, Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh NHS, leading

High Street retailers, community pharmacies and wholesale distributors in the UK

and beyond. Within this highly competitive market, we are able to offer value for

money products and an ability to respond to individual customer needs with the

production of new, own label medicines. Our expanding export operation and our

partners ship products to developing Arabian and African countries.

FACTS ABOUT M&A PHARMACHEM LTD

» Incorporated in 1977

» Employing 150 staff

» Making quality products for over 40 years

M&A Pharmachem

THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW

Highlighting best practice

2 | M&A PHARMACHEM

Quality is, and always has been,

paramount. Our UK headquarters boasts

an impressive laboratory facility with

a wide technical capability including

high phase liquid chromatography plus

UV and visible spectrophotometry.

A separate laboratory is used for the

development of drug formulations on

site. Over the past two years we have

invested over £5 million on our factory

plant and equipment specifically in the

manufacturing, packing and ancillary

services areas. An additional £3 million

is planned to be spent in 2017 with

the goal of increasing capacity while

maintaining high standards and keeping

up with the demands of our clients.

The majority of projects have been self-

financed but some have been backed

privately since the UK High Street banks

were far too tardy in making decisions

and coming forward to support. The

factory’s efficiency has been significantly

improved with the use of modern ‘lean’

manufacturing techniques brought in

by experienced management.

The primary strategy is to expand

the capacity of the manufacturing

plant, to enable M&A Pharmachem

Ltd to compete further at home and

internationally. The significant recent

investment in new machinery means

the firm is well placed to deliver cost

efficiencies to its customers in the future.

Working directly with the bodies that

manage pharmaceutical supplies into the

NHS, we hope to save significant funds for the NHS while maintaining a healthy bottom line for our further growth.

The European Union’s Falsified Medicines Directive is a major development in the pharmaceuticals industry currently. This is a system that will ensure all medicines prescribed to a patient have a unique identifying number that can be scanned and checked against a central database. It will guarantee they are completely authentic. The directive is to be fully in force by February 2019 and the company is well on target to achieve this costly but important change.

Sister Company

CD Medical Ltd is a successful UK medical device company also based in Westhoughton. It supplies medical devices in the therapy areas of urinary and bowel blockages, skin care, wound care and swallowing difficulties.

The business was started more than a decade ago with the belief to take established medical devices, improve them and make them more cost effective. The first CD Medical product was Irripod, a twist-off ampoule containing sterile saline, used across the NHS and private sector for cleansing wounds. Currently market leader in its category, Irripod has gone from strength to strength with its effective design and cost-efficiency.

Increasing capacity while maintaining standards 

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T5 granulation suite

3M&A PHARMACHEM |

MANUFACTURING EDITION

Though some CD products have

always been manufactured in the

UK, our drive over the last 18 months

has been to shift most of the other

products’ manufacturing to the

UK. We aim to support a stronger

Britain and also to provide a

profitable foundation from which the

business can grow.

Bearing 600 solar panels on the

warehouse roof, CD is self-sufficient

for electricity and enjoys this green

credential. Operating on a low-cost

basis with 25 full time employees and

a turnover of £7 million, CD Medical is

well set for future growth.

Onwards

With a new senior management team,

introduced in late 2015, the company’s

outlook is where possible to support

British, locally based manufacturers,

to build profitable businesses that are

sustainable and socially responsible.

CD Medical plans to support the local

economy with sustained, profitable

growth by the careful selection and refinement of the products for the therapy areas we operate in and to further expand into them.

We aim to launch four significant new products in 2017/8. Two will be manufactured elsewhere in the UK, but the third is planned to be made at our sister company ‘up the road’ at M&A Pharmachem. The final product will be initially made overseas but will eventually be brought in house and be fabricated at Head Office in Westhoughton. This will create employment for the local community.

And Finally

With the significant fresh capital being poured into both companies, new products are coming through the pipe line. Existing customers are looking for increased supplies, and with export opportunities presenting themselves regularly, the future looks bright for both M&A and CD Medical!

This will create employment for the local community

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Bosch TLT 1400