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On the 01 December 2022, NEPIC partnered with Advance Northumberland (AN) to deliver their Pharmaceutical Industrial Academic Showcase. Held at AN’s Wansbeck Workspace, the event brought together industrialists and researchers to allow them to network, form connections, and discuss key industry challenges.

NEPIC are a cluster organisation with over 320 members in the chemical, process, manufacturing, and pharmaceutical sectors, among others. NEPIC represent the needs of members by sharing industrial best practice and encouraging collaboration, all for the benefit of the North East region. 

Advance Northumberland is the development company for Northumberland and is wholly owned by Northumberland County Council. It acts on behalf of the county council and delivers many of its economic development services.

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the North East’s greatest strengths and contributes 33 per cent of the UK’s pharmaceutical GDP, and NEPIC realise the importance of helping this sector to continue its growth trajectory. NEPIC have a large number of pharmaceutical manufacturing companies within membership, as well as relevant supply chain companies and research groups. There are many synergies between the pharma sector and the chemical sector and it is important that NEPIC help companies to exploit these opportunities. 

This showcase session builds upon the current offer to the pharma sector, which already includes the quarterly, Pharma Connect networking event, and bespoke best practice sharing sessions such as the one recently held at Labman Automation’s HQ.

Speakers from Quotient Sciences, Piramal Pharma Solutions, Sterling Pharma, Accord Healthcare and GlaxoSmithKline gave talks on the technology, innovation challenges and relevant projects within their organisation. The audience consisted of academics from Newcastle, Sunderland, Teesside, and Durham Universities, with expertise in pharmaceutical manufacturing, process control and medicinal/organic chemistry.

The intention of the event was to strengthen the links between regional academia and industry to allow collaborations, joint working, and consortia to form. Industrialists were informed of the plethora of collaborative opportunities on offer from the institutions, from studentships, KTPs, sponsored research and contract analysis, among others.

The event was a great success and there was a depth of engaged, informative discussion within the room, and a lot of good contacts made. This showcase event will become an annual fixture within the NEPIC calendar, cementing our commitment to further support the region’s thriving pharmaceutical sector.

Attendees at the event said:

Ryan Siddall – innovation manager – NEPIC

“I was very impressed with informative talks given by the regional companies, and was encouraged by the in depth discussion that followed. I’d like to thank the industrialists and academics involved in this event, as they very much embraced the concept of best practice sharing and collaboration. I’m sure this event will lead to follow up conversations between academia and industry and look forward to the projects and collaborations that will occur.”

Michelle Dixon – senior business development manager – Durham University

“I thought the event was very good and the smaller focused format worked really well. It was great to hear directly from industry about their challenges and what they have valued in collaborations with Universities. I look forward to building on the connections made.”

Stephen Byard – principal research fellow, science and technology, candidate development – Quotient Sciences

“The NEPIC Pharmaceutical Industry – Academic Showcase, organised in conjunction with Advance Northumberland, provided an ideal opportunity for local companies to present successful growth and investment whilst exploring opportunities for synergistic working with leading academics in the North East. Follow-up meetings have been arranged on selected subjects, and a repeat event in 2023 would be advantageous.”

Michael Harriott, senior business growth and investment manager – Advance Northumberland

“The pharmaceutical sector is one of the key sectors in Northumberland and collaboration is a key factor in its success. It was fantastic to host an event that provided opportunities for collaboration and relationship-building amongst industrialist and academics. Bringing people together in this way can often be a catalyst for success.”