Symbiosis secures £1m to grow company

Pharmaceutical services provider Symbiosis has secured £1 million in finance from the Allied Irish Bank (BG) to support its growth strategy this year.

Symbiosis’s facility at Stirling Innovation Park was built in 2011 to manufacture deliberately small batches of clinical trial injectable drug products.

The company recently signed a supply agreement with AstraZeneca to manufacture the company’s Covid-19 vaccine for AstraZeneca sponsored clinical trials.

The funding will be used to help develop physical, operational and commercial avenues, Symbiosis has stated, with the aim of enhancing manufacturing output, improving business efficiency and strengthening the company’s IT capabilities.

Symbiosis also plans to use the funding to hire 20 more staff by the end of the year and continue its trend of annual, double-digit revenue and profit increases.

Tina Crookston, relationship manager at Allied Irish Bank (GB), said: “Symbiosis has consistently exceeded its business goals and has strong potential for growth. We are working with many of our customers to support them through these difficult times, while identifying new opportunities in emerging sectors. Life sciences is a billion-pound sector in Scotland and homegrown startups like Symbiosis are a critical part of that success.”

Colin MacKay, CEO of Symbiosis said: “The funding from Allied Irish Bank (GB) is a significant statement of support and endorses our growth strategy. We will be using that investment to proactively fuel the strategic development of our capabilities to enable further successful growth in both local and international markets.

“We want to increase our manufacturing output while maintaining the time-focused competitive strengths that our market has come to expect.

“It’s an exciting time for Symbiosis and we’re grateful for the support from Allied Irish Bank (GB) in recognising our potential for growth and their willingness to join us in a mutually-beneficial relationship.”

“Our clients are biotech and biopharma companies over 80% of them are located in the US and Europe. We specialise in manufacturing, testing, packaging and QA-releasing products for companies that are developing new injectable products and located in those territories.”