Schering -Plough, the US pharmaceuticals giant, is to invest more than £20m in the former contraceptive-making Organon Biosciences plant in Newhouse, Lanarkshire, which it acquired in late 2007.
The investment, announced last night by Finance Minister John Swinney at the Scottish Enterprise life sciences annual dinner in Edinburgh, will come as a major shot in the arm to Scotland's be- leaguered bioscience sector, which has suffered a series of blows over the past year.
The move is part of a wider plan by the company to invest around $60m (£41.4m) and develop ultra-high throughput screening capabilities to allow discovery of high- quality leads from the Schering-Plough compound library at its three worldwide locations - Scotland, the Netherlands and the US.
However, New Jersey-based Schering-Plough said more than half of the total investment - aimed at early drug-discovery technologies to support its global research and development activities - would be spent in Scotland.
The company also said the "compound store" at Newhouse would be enlarged to support its research sites in Europe, securing the firm's long-term future in Scotland.
The Newhouse investment is also being supported by a Scottish Government offer of a £4.1m regional selective assistance grant.
Ismail Kola, Schering-Plough's chief scientific officer, said: "With the Organon Biosciences acquisition in November 2007, Schering-Plough is creating a stronger combined company with increased R&D capabilities.
"The company has a long-term commitment to its research activities in Scotland and recognises the important contribution our colleagues make."
He added: "Our Newhouse facility is now our core site for research in central nervous system with a focus on analgesia and psychiatry. At Newhouse, we also do research in cardiovascular and metabolic diseases."
Organon, which was formerly owned by Dutch drugmaker Akzo Nobel, abandoned its flotation plans after Schering-Plough acquired the group for $16.1bn in November 2007.
Earlier this week, Schering-Ploug reported a fourth-quarter profit of $480m, exceeding analysts' estimates, after adding sales from the Organon acquisition and reducing costs.
Schering-Plough's sales of the rheumatoid arthritis medicine Remicade, now its top-selling product, increased 8% to $491m in the fourth quarter.
However, sales of cholesterol drugs Vytorin and Zetia fell 26% to $1.1bn.
Schering-Plough's acqusition Organon is understood to have been made to partly reduce the firm's dependence on Vytorin and Zetia.
Organon currently employs 270 staff, down from the 350 it employed at the time of the takeover.
Meanwhile, Swinney last night said: "Schering-Plough's decision to make this substantial investment in its Newhouse facility is a welcome boost for Scotland's life science industry.
"It underlines the high quality of the company's Scottish workforce and shows there are reasons to be optimistic about prospects for Scotland's economy."
l The winners of this year's Scottish Enterprise Life Sciences Awards were also announced last night.
Glasgow-based firm Bio Outsource picked up the award for Most Promising New Life Sciences company, while Edinburgh-based Charles River won the Leading Contribution to Life Sciences in Scotland award.
Professor Sir Philip Cohen picked up the Leading Contribution to Life Sciences in Scotland by an individual for his role as director of the Medical Research Council Protein Phosphorylation Unit and the Royal Society Research Professor at the University of Dundee.
Dr Alastair Cozens of NHS Grampian won the Scottish Health Innovations award for best innovation originating from NHS Scotland.
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