BES helps AstraZeneca boost production with sterile space

Published: 13-May-2021

BES has begun construction of a further sterile production plant for the Zoladex cancer drug at AstraZeneca's Macclesfield campus

BES, the specialist in design and delivery of complex pharmaceutical environments, has begun construction of a further sterile production plant for the Zoladex cancer drug at AstraZeneca's Macclesfield campus.

The project follows BES's successful design and construction of a sterile production facility for the manufacture of Zoladex at the site in 2016.

The company has leveraged its multi-disciplinary expertise to deliver a wide variety of turnkey capital investment projects for AstraZeneca over the past 20 years, including the recent Global Packing Centre in Macclesfield. The new sterile production plant delivered by BES will replicate the company's design and construction of the previous production facility.

Construction of the new plant will also reflect AstraZeneca's commitment to continuous improvement by incorporating any learnings from the design, construction and operation of the existing building.

BES is responsible for fit-out of the new facility, including pre-validation throughout project delivery, and commissioning prior to handover in Q4 2022. Taking on the role of principal contractor from May, the company is responsible for safety, buildability and CDM compliance on the project, which will be delivered in line with site-specific safety protocols and COVID-19 restrictions.

The construction programme includes the use of pre-fabricated service modules to underpin the quality and consistency of the services installations and reduce man hours on site, delivering operational and safety benefits.

Graham Drew, BES project director, said: "It is a highly complex and process-driven environment, calling upon the specialist expertise of our multi-disciplinary team. We are responsible for installation and commissioning of all architectural, HVAC, electrical and process utilities, for the building's sterile accommodation, associated cleanroom areas and technical spaces. We will also co-ordinate installation and integration of the client's process equipment, within the heavily serviced production environment."

BES will deliver the project in BIM, embedding effective quality assurance processes legacy management information in the BIM model. The company's BIM capabilities will ensure that AstraZeneca has a complete set of data for future management and maintenance of the asset.

Neil Bennion, project manager, AstraZeneca added: "Continued investment in our production capability for Zoladex is an important part of global cancer treatment preparedness and our ability, as a business, to respond to increased demand."

"The success of the 2016 sterile production plant project means that we have created a model that can be replicated to upscale production in a new building while we continue to operate at full capacity in the existing facility," said Bennion. "BES's familiarity with that project, our Macclesfield site and our complex requirements means that they were the natural choice to collaborate with us for this new development."

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