Nestor leads the way with local expertise. An exclusive interview with Kamlesh Patel of Nestor Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

1. Nestor leads the way
with local expertise
The East of England: An exclusive interview with Kamlesh Patel
G
G
A dynamic life sciences cluster;
Access to globally valued research;
of Nestor Pharmaceuticals Ltd
G A highly experienced skills base;
G Potential for strong market growth; Nestor Pharmaceuticals, an Indian-owned manufacturer
G A well-established supply chain;
G A lower-cost base for European operations and exporter of prescription drugs, set up its UK headquarters in
within easy reach of London, the rest of the Mildenhall, Suffolk with the help of East of England International
UK and the Continent.
(EEI). The firm has transformed its premises into state-of-the-art
facilities and, with business thriving, is looking to expand its
product portfolio and invest further in high-tech manufacturing.
Kamlesh Patel, director of Nestor, explains that moving to the
East of England was crucial to its business plan of creating
a “one-stop-shop”. The facility provides for the complete
outsourcing of the supply chain: from sourcing of active
substances, excipients, manufacturing and packaging, to quality
control and warehousing.
‘Not only can we manufacture pharmaceutical products here,
but we have access to local manufacturing expertise, flexible
packaging solutions and excellent transport links. EEI continues
to help us make crucial connections to develop our business.
Business support funded by the
East of England Development Agency
www.eei-online.com

2. Nestor leads the way with
local expertise
‘Our latest investment project, the new B Lactam antibiotics ‘In establishing our UK HQ, we were assisted
facility, highlights our strategic reasons for setting up this
resource in Mildenhall rather than India. B Lactam groups of
by East of England International. They were
antibiotics are the most commonly prescribed products as the on hand to give us essential practical advice
first line of treatment for a majority of patients in the UK. By and support, making it easy for us to relocate
manufacturing them on site here, on a large scale, we reduce
our manufacturing and distribution costs. families from India. They assisted in arranging
work permits, organising utility supplies,
‘Secondly, our parent company in India manufactures the active
researching the best schools, and finding
raw materials Amoxicillin, Cloxacillin and Ampicillin, which will
hopefully receive approval from the European authority shortly. suitable housing for employees. The help was
So having our own source of raw material, and a manufacturing really valuable and made the transition easier
facility for the finished dosage form, should give us a
competitive edge. for everyone involved. We were also given
vital support with recruitment and training
‘The new antibiotics facility, created by a local company, is one
from Choose Suffolk and Forest Heath
of the most advanced B Lactam facilities in the UK, meeting
the latest current good manufacturing practices (cGMP) District Council.
requirements of the Medicines and Healthcare products
Regulatory Agency (MHRA). This access to local expertise in ‘Moving to the UK is certainly starting to pay dividends. Nestor
high-tech manufacturing, coupled with a skilled, experienced is not only growing its product portfolio but also increasing
workforce, is central to Suffolk’s advantages. It also ties in with its customer base in the UK, Europe and the export markets
Nestor’s preference for local suppliers, to leverage a better of West Africa, which allows us to put further investment into
service and reduce costs. the facility. This is great news for us and the local economy.’
’We have been able to install technology of the highest
specification at our facility. In the manufacturing and process
area, the granulated material is transferred by a special KEY FACTS
vacuum transfer system for further processing, blending
and compression. This minimises any chance of contamination EEI helped Nestor to set up in the UK but its services extend
due to minimum intervention by human operators. We also well beyond practical support for a company’s physical
have a state-of-the-art HVAC system controlling the air move to a new base. EEI’s extended assistance has included:
quality, temperature and pressure of all the critical
manufacturing areas. G Introductions to UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) staff in India,
resulting in a meeting with the then British Prime Minister,
‘So although labour costs are lower in India, there is still Tony Blair, raising Nestor’s UK profile
definitely a business case for manufacturing in the UK.
Manufacturing here enables us to keep to our ethos of G Linking the company with Rodney Berkeley, UKTI’s Head
producing low-cost, high-quality pharmaceuticals which can of Pharmaceuticals Unit in London and with UKTI’s sector
be delivered worldwide. The proximity of Felixstowe and specialist John Mowles, who was able to introduce the
Harwich completes the mix of logistics and innovation. company to MHRA officials visiting India
‘To date, our portfolio of approved prescription and over-the- G Connecting staff with the Drug Control Unit at the UK
counter medications includes Amoxicillin, Metformin, government’s Home Office, to assist with sourcing raw
Co-Dydramol, Aspirin and Diazepam, and we intend to install ingredients at competitive prices
a liquid filling line and a powder sachet processing plant in the
future. We are also planning a further £3 million expansion G Promoting the company regionally with projects including
to increase the packaging capacity beyond the current one a public relations day, attended by key public-sector figures
billion tablets a year. These plans mean we will be able to and resulting in TV and radio coverage
increase our workforce from 30 to 100 by 2012.
For expert help contact:
East of England International
2 Quayside Cambridge CB5 8AB
United Kingdom East of England International gives free and
T: +44 (0)1223 450 450 confidential help to overseas-owned companies
E: info@eeia.com setting up or expanding in the UK.
09/82 Copyright November 2009