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To mark the official launch of our new Manchester office, we proudly hosted a Seminar and Industry Networking Evening on Thursday, September 14, 2023. This event took place at our Manchester office – a hub in the North where we continue to provide consultancy, design, engineering, construction and validation services to pharmaceutical, life sciences and advanced technology companies.

The event featured an engaging programme that included enlightening talks by industry leaders and Scitech experts, each bringing their unique insights to the stage:

● Tony Hitchcock, a Bioprocess Consultant, presented on “Engineering Solutions for Tomorrow’s Medicines.” His expertise lies in developing innovative bioprocesses that are instrumental in the production of advanced pharmaceuticals.

● John Spenn, a Validation Consultant, delved into “Quality Culture and its Impact on Business.” With his extensive experience, he explored the crucial role of quality assurance in ensuring business success.

● Marlous van der Hooft, our new Managing Director and General Manager of Scitech GmbH, discussed “Annex I Implementation in Radiopharma.” Her talk shed light on the regulatory landscape and its implications for the radiopharmaceutical industry.

In addition to the three main speakers, Lauren Wilkinson, Scitech Design and Engineering Manager, and Nadira Adjali, Scitech Principal Building Services Engineer, shared their insights and expertise, providing a well-rounded perspective on the evening’s discussions.

Networking opportunities abound

The Seminar and Industry Networking Evening was not only a platform for learning from thought leaders but also a valuable opportunity for attendees to connect, collaborate, and forge new partnerships with colleagues from across the sector.

Dave Grant, Managing Director of Scitech Ltd, said: “We are delighted that so many colleagues, clients, and partners could join us to celebrate the latest milestone in Scitech’s journey. Our expansion into the north of the country through the Manchester office positions us as a pivotal centre for delivering innovative solutions across various sectors, including pharmaceuticals, life sciences, high-value manufacturing, research, emerging technologies, and other highly regulated fields. This strategic move perfectly aligns with our ongoing dedication to providing top-tier services and support to our clients while addressing the growing demand for specialised expertise in the region.”

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Having nearly two decades of expertise in establishing, managing and leading radiopharmaceutical manufacturing processes, facilities, and sites, Marlous is well-respected within the field. Marlous’s exceptional track record includes the successful launch of 13 production sites across Europe, both for principal and contract manufacturing. Her dedication and leadership have left an indelible mark on the industry, setting the stage for operational excellence and continuous improvement.

With a background in pharmaceutical microbiology, Marlous’s proficiency spans a wide spectrum – from lean manufacturing and process enhancement to quality control, QC method development, validation and compliance, supply chain management, regulatory strategy and medicines licensing.

Marlous’s appointment as Scitech GmbH Managing Director and General Manager underscores our commitment to driving innovation and expanding our horizons. As an integral part of the Scitech family, Scitech GmbH will provide quality and regulatory consulting, qualification and validation services, design and engineering and other consultancy support within the traditional pharmaceutical environment, primarily in German-speaking Europe. Additionally, Scitech GmbH will also operate as a global centre of excellence in radiopharmaceuticals, supplementing and drawing on the extensive proficiency of subject matter experts from across the Scitech group. 

Marlous’s extensive knowledge and visionary leadership are poised to elevate Scitech’s presence in Germany and beyond. 

Marlous said: “I am delighted to lead Scitech’s expansion into Germany, a vibrant hub of scientific innovation and collaboration. This presents an extraordinary opportunity for Scitech to further solidify its presence on the global stage, contributing to groundbreaking advancements in radiopharmaceutical manufacturing. Together, we will unlock new possibilities, forge impactful partnerships, and continue to drive excellence in delivering cutting-edge solutions to benefit patients and the healthcare community.”

We warmly welcome Marlous van der Hooft to the Scitech family and eagerly anticipate the incredible contributions she will make as we venture into new frontiers.

Sixth form student Adam joined us for two-days of work experience to gain an understanding of engineering and commercial management as he contemplates what career path to take. Here he shares his insights from his time with us.

My experience at Scitech was short but insightful. I experienced first-hand what it was like to contribute to a project as a member of the multiple teams at Scitech. I was constantly engaged with hands-on work by an amazing, warm, expert team of professionals in their fields. In an office in Godalming, the Scietch team is like a close-knit family.

I was placed with two teams during my two-day placement: the commercial team, and the engineering team. These teams are both groups of specialists working in their niches to provide the desired outcome for a client; whether it be a building to house a new chemical, or to create a new machine to handle a radioactive chemical. These teams offered me lots of activities so I could be engaged with current ongoing projects and see how their niches work together.

Day One: Commercial Team

Day one, I was with the commercial team. John introduced me to Scitech and gave me a rundown of some past, ongoing and future-planned projects. Then I moved to talk to the commercial team who showed me the budgeting and documenting of a project so it goes smoothly. I got the opportunity to construct a financial report to manage payments to the sub-contractors for a project with a pharmaceutical company with regards to lighting in one of their facilities. This tracked the costs of the tasks completed by their sub-contractors and therefore how much Scitech would need to pay them out for the task.

Following a financial report, I then filled out a payment certificate to confirm the payment that needed to be put through to the sub-contractor. As Scitech is also sometimes a contractor for other clients, if a project is finished late and misses a deadline, Scitech would be charged for the time they are late for project completion. To stop this from happening, if there was a delay in delivery of materials, so they could not finish constructing a certain building, a member of the commercial team would need to fill out a change order. I got some more hands-on experience doing this. In my situation I was given details about an extreme weather event that was going to affect the delivery of essential materials for the project; a change order was made to change the scheduled date of the construction of the building so that Scitech wouldn’t be charged extra money. 

Overall, with the commercial team I got a better understanding of the things they do to tie a project together and keep it running smoothly, while also getting the hang of new software including Microsoft Access and Excel.

Day two: Engineering Team

Day two, I was with the engineering team. I talked to electrical engineer Carlos Garcia who informed me of the essential role that he has in delivering the power to the buildings in a project; for any machine to work, there needs to be wiring put into place and placed carefully to ensure it does not interfere with other machinery. His niche is essential in a project, and he communicates with the other engineers with updated schematics in a 3D modelling software – BIM software. 

I also had the opportunity to talk to Lewis White. As a mechanical engineer, in his department he provides, or constructs, specialist equipment for clients looking for a machine that they can use to synthesize a new chemical compound. I was brought up to speed with a case study in St. Thomas’ hospital – radioactive isotopes are produced in a cyclotron, a particle accelerator that spins protons, which are attached to a pharmaceutical, which can be used in PET scans to pick up a potentially cancerous tumour. The molecule produced is fluorodeoxyglucose – cancer attaches to glucose, then the radioactive part can be picked up on a PET scan as a bright dot.

It was super interesting to have some insight on a real project that I can see for myself in action and the procedures they must go through and work together on.  It’s fascinating the specialised machines that the mechanical engineers need to deliver / produce themselves for one specific job to fit all criteria given by the client; the extent to which they’re specialised is frankly insane.

Overall, I was super happy with my time at Scitech, it completely exceeded my expectations! I’ve absolutely loved having the opportunity to come to Scitech and have a taster of what it’s like as one of the big team. Thank you!

Gareth Brown reveals why designing facilities for the pharmaceutical and high value manufacturing sector is so interesting. With a career as an architect spanning several decades, he still thrives on the challenges it produces.

Holding a lifelong passion to learn, Gareth found that after 25 years working for a range of different architectural practices, he was suddenly left feeling rather flat and deflated about his career. He had previously enjoyed working for many different size firms from small consultancies up to leading national practices. This saw him operating across the Civic, Commercial, Education, Healthcare, Infrastructure and Residential sectors.

During this time, he designed and delivered a range of buildings including healthcare, nursing homes, schools, university buildings, offices, and residential properties. He progressed to become Associate Architect for a top-ranking architectural firm, but despite taking on the responsibility of leading large-scale, multi-million-pound projects, he felt something was missing.

“The designs may look different, but technically they are similar and generate the same types of issues,” he explains. “After a while, you stop being stretched. I’ve always been a geek and loved science; I need to learn, otherwise I get bored. A few years ago, I ended up studying for an Open University degree in Earth and Planetary Science as I felt I was lacking the intellectual stimulation at work.”

Complex design

With his love for science, Gareth’s interest was immediately piqued when he was approached by a head hunter about a role at Scitech. The levels of regulation within the industry and complexity behind the manufacturing facilities, cleanrooms, and laboratories that Scitech designed and built meant that Gareth would once again find himself challenged.

“Scitech appealed to me for several reasons. The projects are interesting with truly complex challenges that really stretched my thinking. The approach to design was different; process led, and inside out.

“At Scitech, you work side-by-side with a full range of multidisciplinary teams and have access to subject matter experts with extensive experience in some fascinating fields.

“The beauty of working together as part of this multidisciplinary team, sitting together in the same room, is that you are more likely to pick up errors before they can escalate. You have the expertise on hand to identify any potential issues at a very early stage and head them off. I’ve also found that, at Scitech, there’s a genuine desire for everybody to get it right.”

Breadth of projects

Since working at Scitech, Gareth has been involved in a range of projects from the development of a hot cell suite for a radiopharmaceutical company based in the US to the development of a high-end manufacturing plant in Scotland, all of which have satisfied his need for learning something new.

“I found it incredibly interesting learning about radioactive isotopes and how they are produced and packaged,” he explains. “It is fascinating from a design perspective as you have to factor in radiation control and monitoring and consider pollution.”

Mentoring a new generation of architects

It is not just his own learning that Gareth is invested in. He has also provided mentorship to architecture students at Cardiff University and The University of Wales Trinity Saint David for several years and was keen to continue when joining Scitech.

“There is a big leap between what you learn at university and what working life is like as an architect. The mentor scheme helps to bridge that gap. Basically, we frighten the students with the reality of the responsibilities they will hold when working as an architect.”

He adds: “I was fortunate that I’ve had several mentors early throughout my career who have been extremely supportive and given me a lot of help. I promised myself that when I was able to do the same for others, I would. I’m grateful that I can do so. Hopefully I can help to inspire them, and I may well find myself working alongside them professionally in the future.”

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We are delighted to announce we have been awarded the pre-construction services agreement (PCSA) to design and build an extension to the University of Oxford’s Clinical Biomanufacturing Facility(CBF). This new building will be sited adjacent to the existing CBF and includes two EU GMP grade C cleanrooms, materials warehousing and offices.

The CBF is the University of Oxford’s GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) manufacturing facility, which has been producing biological Investigational Medicinal Products (IMPs) according to the principles of GMP for early phase clinical trials for more than 20 years.

Located on the Churchill Hospital site in Oxford, the CBF, in partnership with the Jenner Institute and Oxford Vaccines Group, developed the ‘Oxford vaccine’ in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The CBF holds a Manufacturer’s Authorisation for Investigational Medicinal Products (MIA (IMPs)) from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). This allows it to manufacture viral vector vaccines and advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs), including gene and cell therapy products.

The expansion project will ensure that the CBF, Oxford and the wider UK life sciences sector remains at the forefront of innovative medicinal products.

We will be using an offsite construction modular solution to deliver the extension to minimise any disruption to existing business operations at the CBF.

Dave Grant, Managing Director at Scitech, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen to deliver this expansion project for the University of Oxford. The CBF is a valuable resource for academic research and clinical drug development and this investment will ensure that it has the facilities required to also increase vaccine and biologics manufacturing significantly here in the UK.”

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