Notts firms lead delegation to major US pharmaceutical conference

NOTTINGHAM science companies will lead a delegation of UK firms pitching for business during one of the biggest events in the American pharmaceutical industry's calendar.

Businesses from the city account for one-third of the firms in the English delegation attending a reception during the American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences (AAPS) annual meeting in Los Angeles.

They will meet potential customers and investors next week at an event hosted on their behalf by the British Consul in LA, Dame Barbara Hey.

The Nottingham firms taking part in the 20-strong delegation are Critical Pharmaceuticals, Design Cognition, Food and Drug Analytical Services, Molecular Profiles, Pharmaceutical Development Services and R5 Pharmaceuticals

All barring Molecular Profiles are based at BioCity, the centre for up-and-coming science firms in Pennyfoot Street, Nottingham.

The US pharmaceutical market is the biggest and most lucrative in the world, with companies bidding for work in a field where the biggest firms routinely outsource research, development and service work to smaller companies.

Some of the Nottingham firms will be going to link-up with existing contacts, while others, such as specialist packaging and product development firm Design Cognition, are first- timers. Chris Penfold, the company's chief executive, said: "We are on a fact-finding mission, to learn as much as possible about the US market and assessing where and how we can add value for US pharmaceutical companies looking to export, through our understanding of packaging requirements and regulations of global markets."

His company is working closely with Pharmaceutical Development Services, which already has an office in the US state of South Carolina, another industry hotspot.

"Making a move into the US requires a great deal of market as well as regulatory intelligence," said managing director Michael Gamlen.

"Close working relationships and collaboration are key to success and our respective consultancy services dovetail perfectly to add potential value for US companies."

The trade mission which the Nottingham companies are joining has been organised by three publicly-funded organisations – UK trade & Investment, the Government's international trade organisation; Medilink East Midlands, a networking organisation for health and bioscience firms; and the region's healthcare and bioscience iNet, an initiative set up by the East Midlands Development Agency to encourage businesses and universities to develop new technologies.

Dr Ian Barr, the former Boots staffer who is now director of the iNet, said Nottingham's dominance of the English delegation was a reflection of the growing importance of its bioscience sector.

"This event is one of the most important in the industry in the US, which is the largest market by far and one where UK firms have major strengths," he told Business Post.

"The reception is an opportunity to bring British-oriented people in the US market together with companies from the UK generally and the east Midlands in particular.

"It is also a testament to the partnership between different organisations who have been working for years to create opportunities like this for East Midlands companies."

This year will mark the fourth year that East Midlands' pharmaceutical companies have been represented at the AAPS event, but the first in which Nottingham's strength has been so apparent.

"We are not as well-known in the industry as locations such as London, Oxford and Cambridge but we are getting there – I think we're next," said Dr Barr.

"There is a lot of strength in the region and thanks to the legacy of Boots and today the two universities and BioCity there is a real strength here.

"These companies will do some business at the event, probably because they have existing contacts.

"But making contacts is the important thing and that is why this is so important for all the companies taking part – they have a much greater chance of actually getting in front of people who otherwise might not respond to an e-mail from people they don't know."