LifeScan secures £1.85m grant as it seeks to innovate new tech
A HIGHLAND life science company specialising in diabetes and employing 1100 people is to benefit from a £1.85m injection of public money as part of its latest expansion.
Inverness-based LifeScan Scotland, part of the wider LifeScan Inc., is to embark on an £8.7 million investment to innovate the research, development and manufacturing capabilities of its newest technologies.
The company is Scotland’s largest life sciences company and part of the Johnson & Johnson family. It is currently involved in developing and manufacturing products for the treatment of diabetes.
This ranges from the development of meters and software for people to self-monitor blood glucose levels to the manufacture of test strips that the meters use.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) is supporting the company with an investment of £1.85m in the plan, which it says will support more than 600 jobs associated with the new technologies.
The project will, says HIE, boost the company’s revenue, strengthen its global position and international market share and enhance the status of the Inverness facility.
Confirming the HIE contribution to the plans, Cabinet Secretary for Finance, Derek Mackay, said: “LifeScan is a global leader in diabetes research and a great example of an innovative company that is benefiting from what Scotland has to offer as an attractive location for global life sciences companies.
“The continued investment in Scotland by LifeScan and the contribution from HIE is testament to our thriving life sciences industry and its position as a key growth sector for the Scottish economy and proof of the skill and value of the Scottish workforce.”
Andreas Kreitz, Worldwide Director of Diabetes Care Manufacturing at Johnson & Johnson, added: “Our investment plan, and the grant support from HIE, will enable LifeScan Scotland to research and test alternative, more cost-effective materials and production methods that will increase productivity and enable us to serve our global customers better.”
Alex Paterson, HIE chief executive, said: “Inverness and its environs has become a centre of excellence for diabetes. LifeScan has been and continues to be at the heart of that.
"This investment by the company reinforces Inverness’s position as a global R&D centre, and will ensure LifeScan technology continues to be at the global forefront of the monitoring and treatment of diabetes.
“I very much welcome its continued commitment to the region and am delighted we are able to support these ambitious plans.”
There are more than 70 life sciences organisations operating in the Highlands and Islands.
The sector is worth an estimated £131.1 million, supporting nearly 1,800 full-time equivalent jobs, according to HIE. Across Scotland the sector turns over £3.1 billion, with around 640 organisations employing more than 32,000 people. It has been designated a key growth sector in the Highlands and Islands and a priority for HIE.
LifeScan Scotland was established in 2001 when Johnson & Johnson acquired Inverness Medical Ltd (IML). IML was a medical device company that designed and manufactured glucose test strips, and electronic meters for the global diabetes market.
LifeScan Scotland is part of the wider LifeScan Inc., headquartered in Pennsylvania.
The Inverness plant is a Johnson & Johnson centre of excellence for those working in the field of self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) as well as being the major manufacturing site for the company’s test strip products.
The LifeScan entity is part of the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Care Companies (JJDCC) along with Animas (its sister company) which is responsible for the development and commercialisation of insulin pump products.
